


Love and Understanding

by flightinflame



Category: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016)
Genre: Advent Calendar, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Cinnamon Roll Dirk Gently, F/F, First Christmas, M/M, Mistletoe, Multi, Project Blackwing (Dirk Gently), Team as Family, Todd Brotzman is a Good Boyfriend, Traditions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-02 21:37:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 25,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16795213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flightinflame/pseuds/flightinflame
Summary: Getting ready for Christmas takes a surprising amount of preparation. But it's worth it.An advent calendar's worth of themed fics.Day 26: One final gift





	1. Advent Calendar

"Dirk! Dirk!" Mona bounced on the end of Dirk's bed, a teddy clutched in her arms. She was currently the same size she'd been when they first met, and she was barefoot and delighted, giggling slightly.

Beside him, he could hear Todd grumbling as he burrowed further into the quilts.  
"Yes Mona?" Dirk asked, moving to prop himself up on his elbows. After years of being woken up by the alarm at Blackwing, being woken by Mona being happy was hardly a problem.  
"It’s the first of December, did you know that?" She briefly turned into a calendar and then returned to her human form.  
"It is," Dirk agreed, climbing out of bed and cuddling her. "I like the first of a month, it's a new start."  
"It is!" Mona nodded enthusiastically. "And!" She bounced where she stood. "It's December so that means we get to see nice things!"  
"Oh?" Dirk asked, glancing at Todd curiously, in case that made any more sense to him than it did to Dirk. Todd shook his head and whined, pulling a pillow over his head.

"Todd, are you attempting to suffocate yourself? Because really, that isn't going to work."  
"No?" Todd muttered. "What's special about today, Mona?"

"It's the first of December and that means I get an Advent Calendar!" She bounced again on the bed, settling down at the end of it and swinging her feet. "I like them! There's a lot of different pictures of things to be."  
"Oh?"  
"Blackwing gave me one!" she told him with an enthusiastic smile. "It was the only present I got, and it had all kinds of things in, like a star and a candle and a firework-"  
"Uh-huh," Dirk agreed, hugging her tightly and looking at Todd. "We've got advent calendars?"  
"We do," Todd muttered, rapidly typing away on his phone. Dirk caught a glimpse of Farah's messaging profile. "But they're left with Farah, so she'll be bringing them to work later. What kind of calendars do you both like? Just to check I've got the right thing."

"I like picture calendars," Mona answered quickly. "They're fun."

Dirk blinked.  
"There are types?"  
"I'll get you some chocola-" Todd glared at his phone. "Mona, do you know what time it is?"  
Mona helpfully transformed into an alarm clock displaying 4:38 AM. Todd groaned again, and Dirk sighed, wrapping a blanket around her in her alarm clock form and placing it next to her teddy.  
"You can get your calendar later, okay?"

The alarm clock lit up the button indicating it was snoozing, and Dirk returned to the blankets, burrowing in next to Todd and seeing he was asking Farah to buy the calendars for the morning.  
"Thank you," he whispered, kissing him and then falling back asleep.

***

Opening his calendar was wonderful - Farah had got him and Mona matching calendars, each with a little chocolate shape and a picture inside. Today's was a picture of a tiny Christmas tree, which Mona gleefully echoed before she ate the chocolate.

Dirk relished his own chocolate, grinning over at Todd and Farah.  
"Christmas this year is going to be great."

***

"Boss, there isn't any chocolate in here!" Vogel's yell woke Amanda up far too early, and she stumbled out of bed to find that Vogel was staring at his advent calendar in utter disgust. He'd torn off the little cardboard cover of that particular day's window, and was shaking the box upside-down as though that would somehow convince the chocolate to fall out.

"Let me see?" she called out, snatching the box from him and instantly realising the problem - someone had taken out the plastic insert that was inside from the bottom of the packet, eaten all the candy, and placed it back.  
"Vogel, did you eat the chocolate?"

"Only from the bottom, not the front windows," he argued, and Amanda fell back on the ground, trying to fight away a headache and wondering how exactly she was meant to explain three dimensional space. 

"We'll get you a new one next time we stop, okay? But only open one door at a time."  
"Do I gotta?"  
"Yes Vogel, if you want the chocolate to last. We can get the other guys one too."  
"That's good," Vogel agreed, and Beast bounced with joy. Amanda opened her own window, and then held out the chocolate to Vogel.

"Here you go." 

The sheer delight that shone on his face was more valuable to her than the candy itself. Although if her own advent calendar got raided, then Vogel was going to have a lot to answer for.


	2. Wreath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Thanks to Lourdes for betaing!)

The picture that they were faced with when opening the calendar on the second day of the month was a circle of leaves and berries. Mona immediately mimicked it, and Dirk picked her up, examining her and then carrying her over to Todd.  
"What is this?"

"I am guessing it's your sister, judging by the fact you walked in holding her, that was today's advent chocolate, and it's already shaping up to be that kind of a day," Todd muttered. Dirk smiled at him, clearly utterly oblivious to any accusation or irritation that was being implied by Todd's words.

"It is, but I mean, what's she being?"  
"She's being a wreath? Like the chocolate?"  
"I know _that_ Todd, I just... what is a wreath?"  
"It's a thing with leaves-" Todd tried to gesture between taking frantic sips of his morning coffee, feeling far too tired to be dealing with this kind of bullshit.

"I know that Todd, I can see it. Mona is giving a truly marvellous demonstration. And I have seen them on front doors, in all different colours, some of them are just a lot of ornaments stuck together, and others are just plants like this, or fabric made by children... but what are they for?"

"I..." Todd paused, frowning for a moment and considering the question, quickly realising that he had no adequate answer to that particular question. He sighed slightly, pouting to himself. Of course, if Dirk had queried this he would very much have denied that he was pouting, or that he ever pouted - it wasn't an expression in his facial vocabulary. Dirk found it endearing that Todd was able to convince himself of quite such a blatant lie.

"I don't know what wreaths are for, Dirk. Why don't you look it up?"  
"Because I like it when you explain things to me, even if you're just reading it," Dirk answered, and Todd grabbed his phone, opening Wikipedia with a huff.   
"They're a decoration, used in ceremonies in English-speaking countries, and in ceremonies across the globe. They symbolise strength, because they're green even in the middle of winter, and... a lot of religious stuff. I don't know Dirk, it's nice to have a decoration there for Christmas."  
"So when you get home it feels special?" Dirk asked, and Todd considered and then nodded. Dirk bounced a little where he stood, cuddling the wreath to his chest.  
"Can we go shopping for one now?"  
"After work, okay?"  
Dirk nodded, and wandered away from the desk, smiling at the Mona-wreath. He didn't want to put her on the front door in case she got stolen or was cold or damp, but he propped her up on a cabinet so that they could all see her. 

***

It was Farah who drove them to the shops after work to look for a wreath. Dirk looked over at her curiously.  
"You like Christmas?"  
"I used to help Lydia decorate the house," she answered with a fond smile. "It was never something I enjoyed growing up, but I like making it special for other people."  
"That's just... so you," Dirk told her with a smile. "And Todd's 'Christmas is boring' thing is very him."  
"What about you?"  
"Oh, Christmas was always a ...well, a bit of a non-event really. We'd be locked in our rooms for a few days because half the staff were absent. You'd hear Incubus singing loudly sometimes, but really other than a brief break from testing it wasn't much. And then we were just... well, I had a few interesting Christmas cases. There was one individual who was stealing all of the mangers from local churches, and another one where the reward was in a Christmas tree, and-" Dirk continued to babble on, as the three of them wandered around the store.

Dirk's eyes fell on a wreath constructed entirely of rainbow baubles.   
"Can we get that one?"  
"How about we get that one for your apartment?" Farah suggested. "And we can go slightly more traditional for the office?"

Dirk agreed quickly, utterly delighted to get two wreaths.  
Todd frowned, glancing at Farah.  
"How come you don't have to deal with a rainbow monstrosity?"  
"Because Tina is coming over to help me with my place and we're going to make a wreath together. Hobbs taught her." She smiled shyly. "She should be over on Tuesday."

"Fine," Todd sighed dramatically, and went to pay for both wreaths.

***

"Drummer, think you can drink another beer?"  
"Martin, it's like, lunchtime. You don't need to get me drunk."

Martin laughed slightly, reaching out and hugging her, and pointing at the pile of cans that had already accumulated.  
"Need a few more."  
"That looks like a lot of cans."  
"Well, we need to have a lot. Craft time."  
"Crafts? Really?"

"Gotta make a wreath, Drummer. It's tradition."  
"You're making a traditional wreath out of beer cans?"  
"Yup." Martin grinned, and Gripps picked up a nail polish, applying blobs of it evenly around the rim of an empty can. Cross snatched it off of him, carefully slicing down each blob to the base of it, and once the can was sliced it was passed to Vogel.

Vogel grinned, squashing the top and bottom of the can together. It bloomed into a flower, which he threw over to Martin. Martin caught it.  
"We do a bunch of these, and stick'em together."  
"Why?" Amanda asked, opening another can of beer.   
"Because we did it the first year we broke out." Martin shrugged. "'S tradition."

"It was really bad seeing little bird so messed up," Cross agreed.  
"He hadn't been that bad for a while and then he said he wanted to go home twenty times in a seven hour and twenty eight minute period."   
"Ain't got a home other than us," Cross stated.  
"So we had to make it special," Martin explained, and Amanda nodded, throwing the now empty can over to Gripps for marking.

"You do anything in Blackwing?" Amanda asked, regretting it as soon as she did but unable to call the words back.  
"Gripps tracks time pretty well," Martin answered. "He'd tell us. And we'd sing all the Christmas songs we could remember, and give Vogel any presents we found."  
"That's good-" Amanda tried to smile, even as her insides twisted at the thought of what her guys had been through.

"This is gonna be the best Christmas yet, Drummer."  
"Oh?" she asked, smiling at Martin fondly.  
"Yeah!" Vogel joined in. "You're here boss, and you're the best."   
There was no answer she could give to that, so she helped Martin thread the cans together into a wreath.  
"Where are we going to put it?"  
"Van." He shrugged. "Inside. Makes a cool noise when we drive."


	3. Work Stress

Dirk was flicking through the newspaper in the hope that a case would jump out of it. Todd was hoping that if it did so, it would be much less literal than the last case which _had_ jumped out of a newspaper. Getting swept up in one fantasy land had been enough, without the local newspaper doing its best to become a portal. Farah was clicking away at her computer, and Todd was staring at a blank screen.

"Oh, Todd?" Dirk called out. "You need to put in an order for more pills, I don't want you running out if they close later in the month."  
"Thanks," Todd called out, planning to do that later. He was sure that in an emergency he could yet again raid Mustard's supply, but he found it simpler to have his own source of drugs rather than stealing off a slightly indignant cat. "Anything good?"  
"Not really." Dirk sighed, putting the paper to one side. "I want a case."

"Why don't you two go for a walk?" Farah suggested. "Then you might run into a case, and anyway being outside will help you concentrate."  
"Good idea Farah. Excellent assisting." Dirk flashed her a brilliant smile, stumbling to his feet and grabbing the Panic Pete doll from the desk. "Do you want to come along Mona?"

A moment later he was holding a bright yellow puffy jacket. Somewhat triumphantly, he placed it on over his shirt. Todd pulled on his own coat and scarf and followed them, reminding himself that at least with Dirk in that particular jacket it would be basically impossible to lose him somewhere in the crowd.

Dirk strode out with purpose, Todd following in his wake. They were walking along the street when Dirk turned into a mall, pausing to look at a lost dog poster. Todd rolled his eyes but took a photograph of it - he'd learned from past experience that once Dirk took an interest in a lost pet, it would often turn up within an hour or two. Of course, if they didn't have the owners contact details everything would get much worse, especially because with Dirk actively looking for lost pet signs they were bound to find more missing animals. None of which had contact details either. Todd didn't want a repeat of that particular day - Dirk of course had been delighted, surrounded by a dozen happy dogs and cats, all of which were missing and whose details were on various posters that Todd had headed off alone to find.

Following Dirk's jacket through the crowds was initially a rather successful technique, enabling him to speed along between the shops. The problem was when he blinked and Dirk disappeared. He stood on tiptoes, and still unable to see the flash of yellow he began to try and jump to see over the people around him.

"Todd, are you alright?" Dirk asked. His hands were cupped around something, and he looked rather frantic. "We should go home if you aren't well."

Todd took off his scarf, wrapping it around Dirk.   
"I'm fine, is she-"  
"Not really Todd, no." He opened his hands a fraction, allowing Todd to get a glimpse of what appeared to be a mouse that was curled up in his hands, visibly shaking. "I would like to take her home now."

"Of course..." Todd led the way, frowning a little. "What... happened? Did she see someone from-"  
"No," Dirk cut off that particular suggestion. "There was a man dressed as Santa Claus, and it made her panic."  
"The fuck did Santa do to her?" Todd asked, stories filling his mind of drunken mall workers getting fired for inappropriate behaviour.

"It's not... it's not what Santa did," Dirk said softly. "It's what he stands for. The thought that we are still being watched and judged. That we might... that we might not get nice things, if we are failing whatever tests he's setting us. I don't... I don't like Santa. But Mona is... she's frightened of him."  
"Oh." Todd frowned. "Okay, I'll make sure we keep Santa out of any Christmas stuff that we do. That's sad though - Hobbs is dressing up for local kids and he wondered if we wanted to help give out gifts."  
"I could do that," Dirk agreed. "Just, maybe Mona can play with Mustard while we do that."

"That sounds good," Todd agreed, leaning in and hugging him tightly. "I won't let anyone hurt either of you. I'll fight them."

Dirk's smile suggested he wasn't entirely sure that Todd was going to manage that, but he still appreciated the effort. Todd decided that was good enough for now, and unlocked the door, fetching an empty tissue box. He put his scarf in there and held it out for Mona. Dirk dropped her in, and she squeaked in gratitude, nuzzling into the fabric.

There was a sudden barking outside. Todd sighed, and went to let the now-found dog in.


	4. Kiss Under Mistletoe

"Why Mistletoe?" Dirk asked, holding up the shaped chocolate for the day in one hand, and mistletoe-Mona in the other. Todd frowned for a second, wondering if Monastletoe would be the correct word for that particular object.  
"It's for kissing under," Todd answered, hoping that he wasn't going to be expected to give the explanation for every single image that was in the calendar. If he was, then next year he'd have to get his own so he could find out. Dirk handed him the chocolate and he grinned, putting it down for a moment to flash a smile at Dirk. Dirk grinned at him brightly.

"I know! And I like kissing, it's very nice. Especially kissing you, that's like, about my fifth favourite activity?"

Todd tried not to frown, reminding himself that in Dirk's eyes that was a compliment.  
"What's the question then?"  
"I guess I wonder why it's at Christmas." Dirk put Mona down carefully, and she transformed into her human self, skipping away to go and do whatever it was she did most of the time. Todd wasn't entirely sure, but she seemed happy and she didn't break anything, so he let it continue.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well, kissing is a thing that is for all year around? And if you were going to link it to a particular holiday surely it'd make more sense to have it for Valentines day-"  
"Christmas is when the Mistletoe has berries," Farah interrupted, walking past with a cup of coffee. 

"But couldn't they pick a plant that has berries at a sensible time?"  
"Maybe it's to keep you feeling warm?" Todd suggested, wondering why exactly Dirk was starting to have this conversation now. Dirk was frowning a little, and he held up the chocolate mistletoe.   
"So is it just..." he approached Todd, mistletoe held aloft. "Like this and then?"  
Todd rolled his eyes, but leaned up to kiss him, able to recognise when he had been played, and too impressed by Dirk actually managing to be smooth when flirting to object.

"Yeah," Todd agreed, seeing how Dirk looked both smug and delighted. For all that, at points Dirk's smugness could be irritating, it was good to see him looking happy. He leaned in for another kiss, which was interrupted by the door of the agency slamming open.  
"Hey, no need to stop on my account!" Tina called out, holding up her own mistletoe. Mona, apparently deciding her work was done, turned into a Panic Pete doll that settled down on Dirk's desk. Farah walked over and greeted Tina with a gentle kiss.  
"You made it."  
"I did, and I brought a bunch of stuff for the wreath. Hobbs taught me to make them a few years back. I can never make them look as good as his, but it should still be pretty cool."  
"I'm sure it will be," Farah agreed. Tina kissed her once more, before wandering over to Todd. 

Todd rolled his eyes when she shook the mistletoe at him, but leaned in and kissed her cheek. Dirk kissed her on the forehead, and then held up one hand, picking up Mona with the other and gently booping her head against Tina's nose.  
"Thank you Mona!" Tina grinned, before putting the mistletoe down and grabbing Farah's hand.   
"Come on! We've got to make a pretty wreath and then we can go to your place! And I got underwear with mistletoe on it."  
"That sounds highly dangerous given that mistletoe is poisonous-"  
"It's pictures. Come on!" Tina dragged Farah away, and Todd snorted slightly.

Dirk paused, opening his mouth as though about to ask a question and then quickly closing it, a faint blush dusting his face.  
"Try not to think about it-" Todd picked up the mistletoe that Tina had left behind, kissing Dirk. Dirk leaned into the kiss, utterly distracted.

***

"Nuh-uh Boss." Vogel glared at the small white berries with the kind of hatred he normally reserved for the dentist, Blackwing, and cabbage. "Kissing is gross and icky."  
"Uh-huh Vogel," Amanda snorted. "You can just ignore it. I like it."  
"You and the guys already kiss _so much_." Vogel protested. "You're gonna kiss even more, and then everyone will get cooties, and it will all be your fault!"

"It's a risk I am willing to take," Amanda told him, and Vogel whined again, trying to climb into the front.  
"No one's gonna kiss you if you don't want it Vogel," Martin promised. "Let Drummer have her fun."  
"But what if you all get cooties and die?"

"I promise you that won't happen," Amanda told him, trying to reassure him. "People don't die from kissing."  
"What about that guy a few years back?" Vogel asked, and Martin cursed softly.

"Drummer's different though. She's a freak, it don't hurt her when we feed. Anyway that guy is an asshole."  
"Was," Gripps corrected, and Martin smirked.  
"Yeah. He was. Isn't anything any more." He sighed. "Vogel, none of us are gonna hurt Drummer."  
"We don't have to do the mistletoe thing if you don't want to," Amanda conceded, reaching up to take it down from the rearview mirror.

"You gonna be sad if we don't have it?" Vogel asked quietly, his head down.  
"I'd be more sad if you weren't happy, Vogel," Amanda promised, reaching out to squeeze his side.  
"Just don't wanna do the kissing stuff. It's gross."  
"I promise you no one's gonna make you ever do the kissing stuff," Martin promised.

"Hey, Vogel? I've got an idea," Amanda said thoughtfully. "Crouch down for a sec."  
Vogel crouched to her height, and Amanda leaned in, her nose brushing against his. "How was that?"

Vogel giggled.  
"Yeah, that's fun."  
"Okay, new van rule. If you're under mistletoe you do nose nuzzles."  
"Cool beans!" Cross called out.  
"I like nose nuzzles," Gripps agreed.  
"Whatever you say Drummer," Martin nodded.  
"Like friends!" Beast cheered, and jumped forwards so that she could nuzzle noses with Amanda next.

Vogel grinned, and the berries stayed.


	5. Christmas Decoration Part 1

Todd had decided he was too cool for Christmas when he was twelve, and the next twenty years had done absolutely nothing to change his mind. Gifts were gratefully received - Money preferred - and he'd get Amanda something nice, but otherwise he felt the whole thing was a piece of commercialist crap.

Of course, he happened to be dating a man who was basically cross between George Bailey and Tiny Tim. That meant that this year, he was expected to find some enthusiasm from somewhere, and share it. Even though really, Dirk was being more than enthusiastic enough for both of them.

They were barely in December and Dirk was already discussing decorating the house, the agency, Mona, and anything else that would sit still for long enough for him to put tinsel on it.

"It's barely December," he muttered into his morning cup of coffee, and Dirk stared at him in utter horror.  
"It's under three weeks until Christmas, Todd. I would agree this celebration would be a little premature if we were in January, but Todd, it is December. We need to be ready."

"I thought... you guys didn't do Christmas," he pointed out, his argument somewhat undermined by the fact that Mona was currently being a string of Christmas lights that were twinkling away.  
"We haven't had much opportunity," Dirk answered. "We'd like to, we just haven't had the chance."  
Todd wondered how he was being made to feel like a total bastard for trying to limit Christmas's spread, but realised this was probably not the argument to pursue if he wanted Dirk happy.  
"Look, maybe next weekend or the weekend after-"  
"Todd!" Dirk stared at him. "The city has had its lights up for weeks-"  
"That's because it did it too early."  
"And you said no Christmas until the start of December! We are in December."  
"Dirk, you're being..." Todd sighed, and rubbed his head. "I've got to finish this report."

"I'm being what, Todd?" Dirk asked, his voice tinged with danger, and Todd was suddenly hit by the instinct to try and hide behind his paperwork.

"You're acting like a kid," he said, and regretted the words a moment later. He'd been bracing for Dirk to get angry, but instead he looked upset.  
"Oh. Well, ..." he swallowed. "I guess that's all nice." He gathered Mona up into his arms, and walked away, leaving Todd to try and work out how he could possibly be the bad guy in all this.

He wanted to chase Dirk, but he knew that if Dirk was in a mood sometimes he valued being alone, and he'd been the cause of the problem this time. He sighed to himself, trying to work out what he could do to fix things. Because even if he hadn't meant to break them, he hated seeing Dirk hurting. 

He waited for Farah to return.

She walked into the agency at at time that for her was late, and for anyone else would be normal, a faint smile on her face.  
"Tina had to go home for a few days but she'll be back soon."  
"You have fun?" Todd asked, and she smiled softly, then frowned.  
"More fun than you. Where's Dirk?"  
"I... uh. I might have told him that he was acting childishly. Because he was. And now he's gone off in a huff and... I don't know how to fix it."  
"Well, you could always apologise?" she suggested with a sigh. "Why did you say he was acting like a child?"  
"Because of how he's being about Christmas."  
"He..." She sighed, reaching to rub her forehead. "Todd, Christmas is really important to him."  
"I know that now. I just thought they were being a bit-"  
"It's their first Christmas with a family. I _get_ that. First Christmas I was with Patrick, I didn't expect it to be anything special but it... it was. For the first time in my life it felt like... like being part of something. Dirk doesn't ever do things halfway, and this matters to him. It doesn't matter to you. You grew up with a family that loved you and wanted to spend time with you, and it's… It's different. If that's new to you, when it's the first time you get it-"

"Okay, I get it, I'm an asshole."  
"Talk to him, Todd. Please. He needs you to listen."  
Todd sighed, staring at the report that was still nowhere near complete.  
"Now, Todd."

Todd went to Dirk's door, and knocked.  
"Come in," Dirk muttered. He was curled up under a particularly garish rainbow blanket, which Todd suspected was Mona but might have been an unfortunate purchase. "Hello Mister Brotzman."  
"You're being stupid, Dirk."  
"I thought you wanted me to be more adult-"

"I don't." Todd sighed. "I want you to be you because I love you, even when you are ridiculous. If you're excited about this, then be excited. Just... give me some time to adjust, okay?"

Dirk nodded, and Todd hesitated in the doorway.   
"Can I give you a hug?"  
Dirk shuffled to the side to make room for Todd to sit beside him, and Todd hugged him close, rubbing a hand down his side to help him stay calm.

***

"Boss, you okay with us decorating the van for Christmas?" Vogel asked, flopping down from the roof so that he could talk to her.  
"Can I help?"  
"Yeah."  
"Then sure."  
Vogel whooped and dived towards one of the bags.


	6. St Nicholas Boots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In many parts of Eastern Europe, it is traditional to leave children's shoes out on the 6th of December to be filled with sweets if they have been good, and canes or coal if not.

Todd and Amanda had never known much about their family history when they were growing up. Amanda had at least taken a passing interest in it, whereas Todd had never bothered - to him the past was the past and better off staying there. 

That was why it took him a few moments to understand what was happening on the evening of the sixth, when he crept out of bed to use the bathroom and found that the ornaments resting on the hall window-ledge had all been pushed to the side, to make space for a pair of Dirk's shoes, and a pair of dainty pink ballet pumps. He paused, looking them over.  
"Is that you Mona?"  
The shoes quickly changed to blue before returning to their prior colour, answering his question. 

Todd tried to think.

He remembered being little, leaving his own shoes out, so they could be filled with sweets because that was what you were meant to do that night. He remembered picking his largest boots and lending Amanda old pairs of his, so that they could maximise their candy haul. He hadn't done it for so long he had almost forgotten.

He frowned, thinking of his grandmother's explanation.  
 _"If you've been bad, you'll wake up and find a cane rather than sweets-"_  
He supposed one reason he'd stopped leaving the shoes out was that the matchstick that had been there in the past had grown in size to a twig, and he didn't like the implication that he'd been bad - and that badness had been noticed. Even Amanda as a toddler had received a matchstick with the head snapped off.

He couldn't imagine Dirk wanting anyone to tell him he was being bad, and given Mona's fear of Santa Claus he doubted that she would want it either. He hesitated, then went to the bathroom, before heading to the kitchen and picking up some sweets. He filled both pairs of shoes, and returned to his room, planning to ask Dirk about what he had done.

Dirk was asleep by the time he got back. He tried not to let his thoughts linger.

***

"Todd?" Dirk poked him in the side repeatedly until he looked up, glaring at the other man for the prodding.   
"Yes?"  
"I left my shoes on the window ledge last night, and today they are full of candy. I don't suppose that has anything to do with you?"  
"It's... it's tradition."  
"Oh." Dirk nodded. "I... I couldn't remember exactly. I just… Mumie used to... to get me new shoes on the sixth of December, and I had to leave them on the windowsill. I... I remember that, because one year I got toffee and my new shoes got all sticky..." He frowned. "It just... I couldn't remember. But it felt like the right thing to do. I didn't know Americans-"  
"We do it because ...well, because we were German I guess? Sometimes you... hold onto those traditions."

Dirk nodded thoughtfully.   
"You want to share my chocolates?" Todd considered, then smiled.  
"I'd like that."

***

"Drummer?" Martin called out as the sun rose. "This you or Beast?"

Amanda stretched, rolling over and tracing a finger across Gripps' spine, smiling to herself.  
"Is what me?" she called out. Even if the others were still sleeping there was no point in staying quiet - it never lasted for very long. Their mornings were always full of laughter and noise, so she didn't bother trying too hard to prevent it.  
"Is the candy in our shoes you?"  
"Shoe candy!" Vogel squealed, jumping up and running to his own shoes, while Cross and Gripps grabbed theirs, all looking delighted (if not quite as bouncy as Vogel was).   
"Shoe candy's tasty!" Cross yelled.  
"I got seventeen pieces and Cross has thirteen so we both have prime numbers," Gripps added, already reallocating candy to ensure that everyone got their fair share.

"Well, thank you Drummer." Martin wandered over. "I mean, stepping on chocolate isn't exactly how I wanted to start my morning, but it's nice of you. This some weird Christmas thing?"  
"Family tradition," she answered. "Wanted to share it with new family."  
"But-" Vogel frowned, looking at the others. She saw the moment that their eyes lit up, and she found herself faced with a pack of them in a way she normally only saw them turn to things that needed smashing. She wasn't scared by them, just surprised.

"What, boys?"  
"You don't have shoe candy."  
Amanda shrugged. She tended to sleep wearing shoes - walking on anything sharp could easily trigger an attack, so it was a habit she'd got used to when she still lived at home.  
"I don't need shoe candy."  
"There's seventy five pieces of candy. Split five ways that means we get fifteen pieces each but if we split it six ways we get twelve and a half bits each." Gripps said thoughtfully. "So Drummer gets twelve and a half pieces more than she has now."

"Thanks, that's nice, but I don't need-" Amanda began, but then she was overwhelmed. It was easy to forget at times how the Rowdies could function as a pack, moving together wordlessly to get what they wanted. Vogel jumped forwards, tackling her and pinning her to the ground while Cross and Gripps removed her shoes, and Martin held her down. Vogel grabbed the shoes and ran away, and Cross followed him, as Gripps grinned. Martin laughed.   
"Still think hanging out with crazy strangers was a good idea?"  
"It was the best idea." Amanada answered. Martin laughed, but let her sit up a little.

Then Vogel and Cross were back, each holding aloft a shoe. The first one to reach her, carried by Vogel, contained a share of their candy, but it was the second that caught her attention - it was full of new nail polishes and makeup.  
"Picked it up for you a few days back," Cross told her.  
"Wanted to find the right moment," Gripps agreed.  
"Hard to find it when you're always with us! But we like having you there," Vogel added, then started to hold up the different things. 

Amanda considered protesting the fact she had been given chocolate, but she got it. This was how the Rowdies worked - they shared what they had. Giving her this meant they saw her as part of them. That she was included.

She reached out and grabbed her shoes, smiling at her boys, and holding them up as though giving a toast.  
"To the Rowdy three!"

There was laughter, and she was pulled into a hug, and Vogel was already stealing her chocolate and then sneaking his own in in an attempt to replace it. Martin looked relaxed, and Cross was smiling at them all.   
"Thanks guys."  
"You deserve it Drummer," Martin answered, and his arms wrapped around her shoulders as she leaned against him.


	7. Christmas Decorations Part 2

"Dirk?" Todd asked, once they had finished eating all of the candy Dirk had found in his shoes.   
"Yes Todd?" Dirk smiled at him softly, and leaned against him, grinning when Todd squeezed his shoulder tenderly.  
"Do you want to decorate our apartment today?"

Dirk stared at him in surprise.  
"For... for the holidays?"  
"For the holidays," Todd agreed.  
"You don't think it's... childish?" Dirk asked, and Todd couldn't quite tell if he was being angry or nervous with that particular question. Todd shrugged.  
"It's a bit childish. But that's not bad. People deserve to be childish sometimes, to be happy. So much of your life is pretty tough, you deserve the chance to mess around, you know?"

"Thanks," Dirk said softly. "Can we do it... can we make it really colourful and bright and-"  
"We'll go shopping, and go from there okay? Farah's said she's handling the office."  
"I don't mind doing the office," Dirk said, and Todd laughed nervously.  
"I know you don't Dirk, but ...well, you possibly shouldn't. I think we'd have more fun doing our place our way and letting Farah be in charge of the office. She'll make it look professional."

"Are you saying I won't make things look professional Todd?"   
"I'm saying you wouldn't want to make things professional, so there's no point in you feeling you have to."

Dirk shrugged, and then nodded. "Shopping trip?"  
"Just let me have some proper breakfast. Chocolate isn't a meal."  
Dirk rolled his eyes but let Todd go and eat, searching for Mona and putting her on as a jacket.

Todd made sure he had a big breakfast, because it was going to be a tiring day.

***

"Drummer, how much tinsel is too much?" Martin asked, glancing into the van. Vogel appeared to have entirely disappeared within it, his shoes the only thing that was visible.  
"We should probably have space to sleep?" Amanda suggested, peeking inside and smiling a little. There was tinsel carefully placed around the edges, and hanging from the ceiling. A piece had been wrapped around the steering wheel, and some had been threaded through the wreath that they had made earlier.

"This looks good," she answered, reaching out and ruffling Vogel's hair. "Didn't think that you would be this much into Christmas."  
"It's a thing for family," Cross answered.  
"We're family."  
"Always tried to make it better. He was just a child when we got him. Had to give him something better than Blackwing, you know?"

"You guys did well," Amanda answered. "I'm... I like these traditions. This is... I need a fresh start."

Beast ran forwards into the van, laying down and batting at the chains which were hanging from the ceiling, poking the tinsel.  
"Glittah end sperkles!" she cheered, and Amanda considered for a moment, then balled up one of the remaining strands of tinsel and threw it over to her. She pounced on it with a yell. She bounced backwards and forwards holding it, rolling it to make it make a rustling noise.  
"You happy there?"  
"Sperkles! I love them!" she answered, waving it out at Vogel. He grabbed it, and she snatched it away, bounding from the van. The two of them chased each other around the grounds outside the van, and Amanda sat down, watching them. Cross and Gripps sat down on either side of her, their arms around her shoulders. She leaned against them.

"Should I expect more chaos?"  
"Definitely, Drummer. You know it's what we are good for."  
"It's why I love you," Amanda agreed, laughing when she saw that Beast had managed to get tangled in the tinsel. She wandered over to rescue her, untangling her.  
"Good Drumdrum! Good Sperkles!" she yelled, then ran back after Vogel.

***

Todd walked with Dirk around the store, pushing the cart and watching with horror as Dirk picked up one ornament after another - brightly coloured rainbow baubles, silver and blue tinsel, and a few other things.

Dirk paused, waiting for a moment among the trees.  
"Todd?"  
"Yes?"  
"This one's black!" He pointed at a plastic tree covered in blue lights. "Doesn't it look punk?"

Todd didn't think it looked punk at all. But he could see Dirk was smiling.  
"Yeah, we can get that. But I think we should get a proper one later in the month."  
Dirk leaned in and kissed his cheek, and Todd rolled his eyes and added it to the cart, ignoring the lady who was walking past and smiling at them.

The two of them headed home, and Dirk put on some music, starting to decorate. Todd could have just sat and watched him, but he decided he would help. He picked up some tinsel.  
"Where do you want this?"

Dirk beamed, hugging him and then advising on tinsel placement.  
"Like this?" Todd checked, even if the entire situation seemed to be a bit pointless. Dirk nodded, adjusting the strands until they met his expectations, and then moving to hang an ornament from a lamp. Todd was tempted to query this, but Dirk looked like he was having fun, and Todd supposed that was the important thing. He picked up some ornaments, going to hang them from a piece of tinsel, and trying to look serious. If anyone had asked him, he would have denied he was having fun. But no one was going to ask, and he was having fun.

He smiled, watching as Dirk stretched up to place an ornament on top of a cabinet. Their house looked like it had been vomited on by the ghost of Christmas cheer, full of sparkles and bright colours, but Dirk's smile was the brightest thing of all, and he could tolerate the rest if it meant that he got to see Dirk this happy.


	8. Annoying relatives visit

"Where d'you want to go today Drummer?" Martin asked, leaning against the steering wheel, cigarette in his hand. Amanda considered. She'd had a lot of dreams the previous few days, but actually piecing together a meaning from them remained challenging. It wasn't simply a case of reading out a sign - they'd been lucky to get that for Montana, but apparently it wasn't going to happen like that every time they required directions.

"Any of you got any feelings?" she asked hopelessly.  
"Nope."  
"None at all"  
"No feelinz."  
"Go together!" Vogel yelled around his mouthful of breakfast.   
"Always go together," Amanda answered just as Martin said the same. Vogel was smiling, leaning over from the back to nuzzle his face against Amanda's shoulder, and Amanda reached up to stroke his hair fondly. "Wouldn't want to be away from my family," she promised, and Vogel hugged her tightly. She understood after what they had been through when the guys had been taken by Blackwing. It had been hard for him, to find he didn't have the family he needed. She'd been lucky to have him.

"What is it Drummer?" Martin asked, his hand on her shoulder, thumb brushing over a sensitive patch of flesh near her collar bone.  
"I think we need to go to the agency," she admitted. "I want to talk to Todd about what the plan is for over Christmas, and ..."  
"We see Bibbit?"  
"We see Bibbit," Amanda agreed with a smile. 

"You need us to smash your brother for you?" Martin asked.  
"We don't mind doing it," Gripps told her.  
"No bother. We're good at smashing."  
"That won't be necessary, Cross," Amanda answered fondly. "I don't... I don't hate him any more. We aren't back where we were, and I won't ever... I won't ever forget what he did to me. But I'm not trapped in that house any more. The world's too big to give any time on hate."

"That's why you're one of the good guys," Martin murmured, and she twisted to kiss him softly.  
"That's different," she promised him, reaching out to place her hand over his. With Martin, driving didn't work the same way it did for others. He never crashed, even when he should. Apparently it was a universe thing.

Martin nodded sharply.  
"Guess we can leave it for now, long as he doesn't hurt you any more. You know, he's good for the English guy and little Mona, so if you're happy with it we'll let it slide for now. But if he messes up-" Martin drew a finger across his throat to shouts of joy from the back seat. Amanda settled back and lit up a cigarette, watching the countryside speed past.

***

"Hello!" Dirk called into the phone, sounding worryingly awake for this time in the morning. There was a pause, and then he yelped, his eyes wide, sitting up straighter in bed.

Todd, who had never seen Dirk awake this early, reached out to check that he was alright, but Dirk dodged away, cradling the phone.   
"You're sure? Okay, I'll have to ask the others but-" he paused, holding the phone at a slight distance and glancing at Todd. "Todd are you okay with going to Hobbs's for Christmas this year? He says he can do Christmas Eve, Christmas day or Boxing day, and he'd love to have us and Farah, and your sister and her... friends... are welcome as well."

"Does he know what he's letting himself in for?"  
"I assume so. He's discussing having a fire pit outside the station for cooking some of it."  
"He's a brave man," Todd muttered, then looked at Dirk, seeing the hope and excitement which was shining in his eyes. "I think it'd be good. Maybe we can do a little Christmas on the 23rd or the 26th, just the four of us in the agency, and do a big family thing with Hobbs and Amanda on the 25th?"  
"I love you Todd," Dirk answered, before returning to the phone. "Todd says he's delighted and that you are his favourite detective."

Todd opened his mouth to protest, and was stopped by Dirk pressing a finger to his lips, shushing him gently. He rolled his eyes but took the hint, letting Dirk chat away. Dirk finally ended the call just as there was a familiar growling noise from outside in the road.  
"Shit," Dirk turned to the window, looking unimpressed.  
"Farah's going to be furious if we get the agency smashed up again."  
"It isn't intentional!" Dirk answered. "Look, you just go down and invite them to Christmas or something, and we can minimise possible smashing time."

Todd considered objecting, but decided that Dirk had a point. He pulled on some boxers and a dressing gown, then headed down to the door, opening it to see that all six of them were leaning against the van. The four men were armed, Amanda was smirking, and the rainbow girl was sitting on the hood, waving up at the window where Dirk was looking out.

"You smell of the English guy," the one with the hat, Gripps, told him.  
"Smells tasty," the one with the circle tattoo agreed.   
"We aren't going to hurt you this time. Not unless you give us reason," the leader told him, and Todd's eyes were drawn to the back of the van, where some tinsel was sprawling out enthusiastically.

"You do Christmas now?"  
"Yup," Amanda answered. "Wondered if you wanted to meet up or go home."  
"Ugh," Todd muttered, and then sighed. "I'll go see our parents earlier in the month, show them Dirk and stuff, let them know you're alive."  
"Thanks," she answered, and there was a genuine smile on her face. "Me and the guys are-"  
"You could come to Montana? Hobbs, the guy I told you about who basically adopted Dirk? He's invited us over. You could meet Farah's girlfriend."  
"Do you think a sheriff's gonna like us?" she asked curiously. Todd looked her over, noticing the faint smell of marijuana, the makeup that looked a few days hold, the messy hair and second hand clothes. He nodded.   
"Wait until you meet the woman he works with. You'll fit right in."  
Amanda nodded.  
"We aren't sleeping inside a staton, we've got our van."

"Thanks," Todd smiled a little, barely able to believe she was agreeing to his suggestion. He had expected refusal, disappointment, not the kind of hope he was left with. There was a lot that could still go wrong, but it was something.  
"Does that… is there anything else?" Todd asked. He didn't really want to leave her but nor did he know what else to say.

"Tell Dirk to be careful," she said, suddenly far more serious. "I think Blackwing is active again in this area. I don't think we're the ones that they're interested in, but he's the best thing that ever happened to you, you can't lose him to some super-shady agency."  
"I'll do what I can," Todd agreed, and found himself swept into another embrace.  
"Thanks for including us, Todd. How is he feeling about it?"  
"He seems to be having a lot of fun this time of year. I was worried he'd miss his family, but-"  
"I do," Dirk answered, stepping out of the house, in his pyjamas and with a fluffy blanket around him. "But I have a new family now." He oofed as Beast ran out to snuggle him. "Anyway, Amanda, it's fantastic to see you. I don't suppose I could borrow your partners? I want to go poke around a haunted warehouse, and whilst your brother is a truly wonderful man and the love of my life, he is not particularly useful when poking around scary places."  
"I have brass knuckles!" Todd pointed out, and Dirk kissed him on the cheek.  
"I know. And I appreciate all your work. But they're right there and they like smashing stuff. Plus if it's not relevant then they can smash up the place a bit. We can go and get dressed, and then go there before anything else happens."

"Sounds good," Amanda answered. "Just let us know where to be. Same for Christmas."  
"Thanks sis," Todd said sincerely, before letting Dirk drag him inside, remembering to jot down a note so that Farah would know where to go and rescue them.


	9. Ice Skating

Amanda sat on one of the benches, watching Vogel play on an old handheld game console. This one was at least fourteen years old and still worked perfectly. Given how much the Rowdies tended to destroy, she was impressed, but she understood that this mattered to him.  
"You okay Vogel?"  
"Yeah." He shrugged. "Still thinking about that smoke demon from yesterday. It was cool."  
"It wasn't-" She shrugged, and then nodded. "It was pretty good. You scared it away."  
"I'm terrifying," he agreed, and Amanda nodded, allowing herself an indulgent smile at that comment. It wasn't that Vogel wasn't scary - she'd just got so used to him that he felt familiar. They all did. 

The person _behind_ the smoke demons was apparently another Blackwing subject, and one she hoped to make contact with, but that was going to be a problem for the future - today the main concern was the way the temperature was dropping.

She knew she was overly sensitive to be cold, had been ever since her illness had begun. A gust of wind could send hundreds of needles into any exposed flesh, and the brush of ice could send a frost across her entire body. She spent time in the winter curling up under a blanket and trying to make herself warm. The van was great, but it wasn't exactly windproof. It felt like a stupid thing to complain about, when she loved spending time with the others, but she knew if she didn't mention it she was going to regret it later. 

Somewhat reluctantly, she made a decision that today, she would talk to them about it. That way she would work out a solution. She just hoped they could work out a solution that enabled her to stay with them, because she didn't want to leave this new life behind. The van would be starting up in an hour or so, after everyone had got clean, and she'd talk then. She still needed to get up off the bench and go and clean, but she'd been comfortable so hadn't rushed.

"You look serious Drummer," Martin told her, sitting down next to her. She shrugged a little, leaning in and enjoying the warmth of his body.  
"I dunno... I want to stay with you guys."  
"Then stay with us?" he queried.  
"We like you here," Cross added.  
"Part of the Rowdy 3," Gripps joined in.  
"Need you here boss," Vogel called out, putting his game aside briefly to look up at her. 

"I just... I'm bad with the cold. Showering in streams and stuff... it works when it's warm, but it's getting cold now. If I go outside in winter, I have attacks. I don't... I don't want to spend the next three months having one attack after another."

"We can do showers in the van." Vogel said quickly. "We used to do it when I was little, or if its cold, grab water from outside and wash in here-"  
"But then the van's damp."  
"It's not for long. Only 4.2% of the time that would be expected," Gripps told her.  
"Van's weird as we are," Cross agreed.  
"Van's not..." she paused, then looked at Martin. "I hear the wind through gaps in the panelling. The van's going to get cold."  
"Not if we cuddle up," he answered. "Not if you need it warm." He pushed open the back doors fully, and she saw that the ground was dusted with snow. Inside the van it was...if not warm, it was at least tolerable. It stayed warm even with the frost over the ground outside.  
"Magic?" she asked curiously, and Martin shrugged.  
"This place is our home. It's your home too Drummer, long as you want it."  
"I want it," she promised, leaning in for a kiss.

***

"Mona, you are wonderful," Dirk began, trying to reason with his sister. "You really are incredibly helpful, and we are truly lucky to have you. Tina really will appreciate your kindness, but we could... well, would you mind being a little more portable until we get there?"

The giant plastic penguin paused for a moment, and then shrunk down to the size of Dirk's hand.  
"Thank you ever so much Mona," Dirk murmured, picking her up and placing her into his jacket pocket. "Much appreciated."  
"What is that?" Todd frowned. He'd initially thought that she had been inspired by the day's advent chocolate, but if she was being something for Tina, he really had no idea what she could be doing.

"She's a penguin."  
"I can see that she is a penguin," Todd agreed "But I don't... I don't know _why_ she is a penguin."  
"We're going ice skating."  
"If she wants to be a penguin when we go ice skating, wouldn't she be better off being... I don't know, like, a toy penguin you could carry? Or...something that isn't four feet tall?"  
"Tina is worried about skating," Farah answered, standing in the doorway. "She saw online that some rinks have skating aids - some of which are penguin shaped - that you can hold onto. But she felt bad about taking one off a child so Mona-"  
"Mona thought she'd help." Dirk grinned. "She's just generous like that."

Todd shrugged and followed Farah to the car, getting into the back with Dirk and  
watching out of the window as they drove to the rink. He'd never been particularly good at skating. 

They changed into their shoes, and Dirk wobbled onto the ice first, clutching the side. Todd followed, making a grand total of two steps before he fell, but Dirk helped him to his feet and the two of them started to shuffle along holding the side.  
"OH!" Dirk called out, picking Mona from his pocket and sliding her along the floor towards Tina. As she slid she grew, until she reached Tina at four feet tall. Tina gripped the handles and pushed off onto the ice, followed by Farah who was gracefully circling her, there to support her if need be.

Dirk watched them with a smile.  
"Mona and I haven't done this before, but she seems to have got the hang of it."  
Todd nodded, taking Dirk's hand and wobbling towards the centre of the rink.

***

Vogel had been delighted when they had come across a pond that had utterly frozen over, demanding they left the van and went to play on it.

Gripps had thrown a thick jacket across her shoulders, and she sat on a comfortable tree-trunk, watching as Vogel tried to cruise across the ice, and Beast wobbled around the edge. Cross and Gripps, who were apparently taking their job of helping her stay warm very seriously, were sitting beside her, their arms around her. Martin was keeping an eye out for any danger, and she could relax.

"You want a go on the ice?"  
"I was never very good at it, even before-"  
"We'll catch you," Cross promised. "And any attack, we'll eat it all up."  
"You don't have to be scared."

Amanda knew that going onto the ice would almost certainly trigger an attack. But she couldn't bring herself to care. It would hurt, but then it would stop hurting, and when it stopped hurting they would be able to spend some time skating - or at least trying to do so.

She nodded, and they helped her to her feet, leading her out onto the ice. Cross wobbled slightly, while Gripps confidently began to skate backwards, his hands holding onto hers so that she wasn't alone. She stumbled slightly, and he kept her upright.

She could feel herself relaxing as they crossed the pond. Gripps looked totally at home on the ice, and Vogel had gone over to help Cross. She was smiling when a flash of colour darted forwards, knocking Gripps from her hold and sending her clattering to the ice. She started to panic the second her hands touched the ice, feeling the frost running up from the lake's surface, freezing her solid, pulling her into the depths. She tried to breathe, but her lungs weren't listening, weren't responding.

She tried to scream, but no sound came out.

Strong arms wrapped around her, and she was pulled away from the ice, her fingers almost shattering, Blue light flowed from her and she slumped back, finding that it was Martin who had pulled her free. He cradled her to him.  
"We got you Drummer."  
"Thanks," she swallowed, then paused. "Can we... can we go back to the bank?"  
"Sure thing," Martin answered, but didn't move. She considered for a moment, then stared.  
"Martin, can you skate?"  
His stoic silence answered her question, and after a few moments Gripps came to help them both off the ice. Even though she was shivering until she could get back into the van, she moved with a lot more elegance than Martin, who remembered her of Bambi more than anything. He collapsed to the ground beside the van, getting his breath back, and stared at her.  
"We're always gonna get you Drummer."  
She smiled at him, and before she knew it she was beginning to giggle. He rolled his eyes, but she could see that he was smirking.


	10. Snowed In

Todd had wandered down to get himself a coffee, and returned to bed to find that Dirk had disappeared. This particular discovery didn't concern him as much as it might concern some people, because in Dirk's place there was a large and rather grumpy looking mound of blankets. Todd carefully placed his coffee down before climbing in beside Dirk, poking at the blanket pile.  
"I need some too," he demanded, and when the blanket was relinquished he wrapped it around himself, before venturing into the tangle of sheets to try and locate his boyfriend. Dirk wasn't particularly hard to find once you had managed to breach the barriers of his nest - he was curled up in the centre, blankets over his head, looking both tired and a little miserable.  
"Dirk?"  
"’S cold," Dirk muttered and looked at him sadly. "Don't like it."

"I know... I got some coffee, didn't make you tea because I thought you were asleep, but you could have some coffee."   
Dirk gave Todd a look that suggested he thought he was being poisoned. Todd bit back a sigh and shrugged.  
"You could cuddle the coffee, and I could cuddle you?"  
That suggestion at least made Dirk smile.  
"What's wrong, Dirk? I know you're never overly into venturing outside the bed on cold days, but-"  
"There's snow. We aren't going to be able to open because no one will come in, and I can't remember if I bought milk like I was meant to, and we're all going to freeze to death," Dirk muttered miserably.

"Dirk, you're being a little bit ridiculous." Todd accompanied his words with a gentle kiss, easing some of the blankets away so that Dirk emerged blinking into the outside world. 

"There's snow. We're going to get trapped."

"The snow isn't that deep yet. I thought you'd be excited to get the chance to play in the snow, that seems like your kind of thing."  
"Maybe another time," Dirk muttered. "For now I'm worrying."  
"Dirk. We are inside. We have blankets, I can make you some tea, and you can tell me what this is really about."

Dirk whimpered but seemed to realise he'd lost the argument. Todd headed back to the kitchen, returning after a short while with the cup of tea, which he handed over.  
"What's wrong Dirk? Really?"  
"I'm worried that you're going to hate me. I'm fundamentally very annoying Todd. What if we're trapped in the house and you realise you don't like me anymore, and then you decide we can't be boyfriends, and we're never speaking again and then I die all alone and then no one even cares-"  
"Dirk. Stop. Breathe."

Dirk took a few shaky breaths, looking at Todd curiously.  
"Yes?"  
"We aren't going to decide we hate each other if we're trapped for a little while. We can go to the office if you want some space to think about things, that's okay, or we can cuddle together. Farah will be down soon, if you need that. It's going to be okay. Maybe we can play a game with Mona?"

"That'd be good," Dirk agreed nervously. "There's a game she likes where she decides a thing to be and we have to guess what she is, that's quite easy. Or a much harder one where we think of a thing, and describe it, and she has to be what she thinks we mean." He grinned at the explanation, and Todd could feel himself relax slightly, because Dirk was calmer now. He didn't know how he could prove to him that it didn't matter, that everything was going to be alright, but he would try. And that would hopefully convince Dirk in time that things were never quite as terrible as he thought they'd be.

***

Farah made her way downstairs to be greeted by the sounds of laughter, with Todd and Dirk cuddled on the sofa.   
"Blue... no, liquid blue, no! Mona please don't turn into the sea. A bottle with blue liquid-" The puddle on the floor which was probably Mona turned into some mouthwash, and Dirk grinned triumphantly.  
"Hey Mona, guys."  
Mona instantly turned into her human form to wave.   
"There's snow," Farah informed them, and Dirk nodded seriously.   
"There is, but Todd says he won't get cabin fever and hate me forever."

"That's… good," Farah answered. She supposed that Dirk, having grown up in Blackwing and not really lived in a fixed place since, probably didn't know about shoveling snow. Todd had no such excuse.  
"Todd, why is there still snow outside our place?"  
"Because shovelling snow sucks and it'll only get worse," Todd answered. She sighed, about to lecture him, when something bumped into her ankle. She looked down to see a tiny snow plow that was skimming across the carpet.

"Well then, Mona and I are going to do our civic duty." She picked up the tiny snow plow, and pulled on her coat, placing Mona down over the pavement. She stayed with her, careful to make sure she didn't get buried when she was a little too enthusiastic in her shovelling and drove plow-first into a large mound of snow. When the paths were clear, she carried Mona back inside, and settled on the chair with the snowplow in her lap, wrapped in a blanket. After a few moments, a small kitten emerged from the fabric, nuzzling against her and purring softly. Farah reached out to scritch her behind the ears, making her wag her tail enthusiastically.

***

"Boss!" Vogel called out. "BOSS!"  
"Yes Vogel?" Amanda answered, wiping the sleep from her eyes and wishing that Vogel had at least the vaguest notion of an indoor voice.  
"Van won't open."  
"What?" she asked.  
"Snow hit bad last night," Martin called from the front seat. "Can wiggle out the passenger window, Beast already went to explore, but van isn't moving for a day or two."

Amanda groaned. She loved the boys, but being stuck inside for a few days was too reminiscent of her illness for her to greet it with any kind of excitement.  
Vogel wriggled through to the front, yelling to the world he needed a bathroom break. Amanda groaned, laying back against Cross and muttering. It was too early to be dealing with all this.

When she opened her eyes again, she found Martin was sitting beside her.  
"Hey Drummer."  
"Hey," she greeted him. "We still stuck?"  
"Vogel and the rest of the guys are making an igloo for if we're trapped longer term. I said I'd stay and keep an eye on you."  
"Thanks."   
"They don't like being cooped up any more than you. Soon as we can move the van, we'll head into a city. That way we're less likely to get trapped."

"Sorry," Amanda murmured. She hadn't considered the memories the imprisonment would reawaken for the rest.  
"It's okay. It'll melt." He lit a cigarette, and offered her one. She took it, leaning in to use the flame of his lighter.  
"Thanks." She nodded. "So what's the plan?"  
"We all try not to murder each other until the ice melts," he answered honestly. "The igloo should tire them out. We'll get through it."

She nodded, leaning against him and enjoying her cigarette.

She was almost drifting off when Martin grabbed her shoulder.  
"Drummer, you better see this."  
"Huh-What the fuck?"  
There was something approaching them from in front. At first it looked like dust, but as it got closer she realised that it was a swirl of smoke, patterns dancing in it that looked vaguely familiar. It came closer and closer before engulfing the van, and a moment later it was gone. Fists hammered on the back door, and she threw it open to see Cross, Gripps, Beast and Vogel all there drenched to the skin.  
"Our igloo melted."   
"Wensplash!  
"It was cold boss!"  
"Don't like cold water!"

"You guys come in and warm up..." She helped them in, noticing the water on them wasn't even icy. The ground around the van was still frozen, but there was a path ahead, leading towards the road. She closed the doors of the van and fetched blankets as the others stripped, and Martin climbed into the driver's seat.  
"Well that was fucking weird," she muttered, and the van started up.


	11. Christmas Party

"It's two weeks to Christmas!" Vogel managed to wake up shouting.  
"Fourteen days, that's three hundred and thirty six hours which is twenty thousand one hundred and sixty minutes which is one million, two hundred and nine thousand and six hundred seconds."  
"Took you too long to say! It's gotta be less seconds than that now!"

Martin groaned, rolling over and trying to hide his face against Amanda's throat.  
"'S too early."  
"TWO WEEK PARTY!" the others yelled, and Beast squeaked in delight, bouncing from foot to foot and then jumping on top of Martin, stroking his hair.   
"Frienzparty?"  
"Friend's party," Amanda agreed, sitting up. "Two weeks to Christmas party?"  
"It's fun!" Vogel insisted. "We listen to Christmas music on the radio all day and we smash up something and we dance! And we eat cake!"

"That sounds good." Amanda smiled.  
"Yeah," Martin agreed. "It's good." He sighed, staring out the window, and Amanda leaned against him, bumping his shoulder with her own.   
"What is it? You're being grumpy, I know that there's something there-"  
"I just... today's a day that I want to be distracted, and letting Vogel listen to crappy Christmas music is a damn good way of doing that."

"Okay," Amanda agreed. "We can share some drinks later. If you need to talk-"  
"I'm good Drummer girl. We're free, we're together. Nothing else matters."  
She nodded. It wasn't her place to pry. If Martin wanted to share, he would. But if not, they could drink and smash up cars and sing Christmas songs until they all collapsed back in the van. They didn't need anything else.

***

"Todd, are you sure about this?"  
"I promised Amanda that I could go this time, see our parents. And they're going to ask what I'm doing after I gave up my job, so... they should meet you."  
"Because I'm your boss?"  
"Because you're my boyfriend. Let's be real Dirk, Farah is the boss."  
"It's my name on the sign... Can… Can Mona come too?"

Todd made a face, and then cringed at the way Dirk ducked down into himself, a guilty expression on his face as though he knew he was asking was unreasonable.   
"I just... I don't know how my parents would feel about a shapeshifter. It's not that there's anything bad about her Dirk, you know that. She's just different, and it'd be a lot for them to handle-"  
"She could be a thing the whole time?" Dirk asked quietly. "I mean, if it's okay with you. She could be a jacket?"  
"Dirk, if she's a jacket I wouldn't even need to know she was there."  
"Yeah but... it wouldn't be right to just sneak her in Todd. I want her there, but I want her there because you want her, not because I lied. I don't ...I don't like lying to you."

Todd rolled his eyes slightly at that, hearing his boyfriend manage to be both adorable and ridiculous.   
"Alright. If she stays as the same object she can come."

Dirk kissed him on the cheek, then ran off to get ready. Todd groaned, wondering if he should have just put Dirk in the car before revealing the purpose for their trip. It would certainly have been less stressful for them all, but he knew that it wouldn't work like that. Dirk would probably have known something was up, because his not-psychicness tended to activate at inopportune moments.

It just worried him, the thought of introducing his family to his boyfriend. It wasn't that he thought his parents would mind - he'd brought back various guys he was fucking before when he'd been a musician. But it wasn't like that with Dirk. He was scared of his family thinking he was getting serious with someone. That he might actually want Dirk for something other than sex. He groaned, knocking his head gently against the wall. Dirk approached.  
"Don't do that, silly," Dirk grinned, and pulled him away from the wall towards the car. He climbed into the passenger seat, and put Christmas songs on. Todd wasn't even sure where Dirk had got that CD, and then realised his jacket had disappeared.

"Dirk?"  
"Yes?"  
"Are you playing Mona?"  
"She likes Christmas music."  
"Of course she does." Todd sighed, driving towards his parents' house and trying not to think about it too much. That way lay only further headaches.

He knocked on the door to the house, bracing himself because he really did not know how his parents would feel about Dirk. Amanda loved him, but Dirk could be a lot for anyone to handle, and his parents had never been keen on the louder friends he had brought home before.

As he got closer he saw a few other cars around the house - one he thought was Cousin Tamara's, which was terrible - she was the daughter of Aunt Esther, and he always hated seeing her because it reminded him of his lies.  
"Oh? Are they having a party?"  
"They said we should come now," Todd answered reluctantly, parking and heading up. He knocked on the front door, unsure if he wanted to try his key just in case it didn't work in the lock. Dirk stood beside him, pulling on his jacket, and as the door opened he went to greet his father, only for Dirk to manoeuvre him out of the way.  
"Hi!"

Todd groaned as Dirk beamed at his father, introducing himself as a colleague of Todd's and a detective, and even if Dirk was trying to calm down his description it was quite clear to Todd that his father was confused. A moment later his mother arrived with a tray of Christmas tree cookies, and Dirk seemed even more determined to charm her, complimenting her cooking and promising her he was doing everything he could to take good care of her elder child.

***

A few hours later, Todd was nursing a headache from the music and Dirk was dancing with his cousins, talking to everyone, and generally conducting himself far better than anyone raised in a top secret prison had any right to.

Dirk looked happy though, so Todd decided not to let it bother him. He'd always suspected he was the second favourite child of the family. Now with Dirk in the picture, he supposed he could live with being third. Although, knowing what Amanda was up to would probably mean she got knocked down at least one place. 

He opened his mouth to announce it, and then decided that leaving Dirk as his parents' favourite child wasn't an ideal plan, so he closed his mouth again and reached for another mince pie, sipping his beer.

Dirk came and sat beside him, his knee bumping against Todd's.  
"We should be heading back, I heard from Farah."  
"Oh?"  
"And my coat is a little tired," Dirk murmured, and looking more closely Todd could see some of the finer detail was beginning to fade.

"Okay," Todd stumbled to his feet, to be stopped by Dirk's hand on his arm.  
"Todd, I'm driving."  
"What?"  
"You've had too much drink. Just sit back and think of England or whatever, I'll get us home. I won't crash unless the universe wants me to."  
"Dirk, that isn't what that phrase means, and... oh god." Todd let himself be guided towards the door, smiling and thanking various relatives, and then folding up in the passenger seat. "Please don't crash."  
"It's really not up to me Todd."

Somehow, the knowledge Dirk was completely sober wasn't reassuring in the least.


	12. Christmas Shopping

Farah was in the office by the time Dirk had chosen to emerge from the blanket nest that Mona was kindly providing. She was still quite exhausted, so was going to stay on the bed for now while he and Todd went to work, and might appear later. Dirk couldn't be sure what form Mona would take when she returned - he suspected that she might be a bouncy ball to get down the stairs, but he couldn't put it past her to come up with a different idea - she'd been a slinky before, and for her there were endless options.

"Good afternoon Dirk."  
"It's not that far past eleven!" Dirk protested, crossing his arms and frowning a little. Farah laughed a little but nodded.  
"Sorry Dirk, good morning."  
"Much better." Dirk smiled, walking forwards to embrace her. "How are you today?"

"Glad you got here." She smiled. "I think we should go out for Christmas shopping, sort out gifts and make sure we have food to take to Hobbs, and what we'll need for our own party. I have a list."  
"Oh?" Dirk tried not to smirk at her, knowing that Farah liked being organised.  
"Well, technically it's three lists. I was going to just do one, but then I looked into it and realised that it would be easier if we each had our own role. Then we can go out, do our own shopping - please try not to run into a case this time Dirk - and meet up afterwards for a coffee. I can check you completed your lists, and we can be back in time for a final tidy up here."

She handed out the lists. "Todd, you are in charge of some alcohol and the major food. Dirk, you need to get Christmas games, crackers if you can find them, and snacks. I am handling decorations for the office, gifts for clients, and calendars for the new year."

"Why do I get food?"  
"Because, Todd, this isn't your first Christmas. You have some idea of what is expected."

Dirk considered protesting, but he knew she was right in her comment so there would be no point. Still, he was good at snacks, and he would be able to pick out interesting crackers. He had been asked to buy his own individual gifts for the others as well, although Farah had been careful to label her own "Optional".

"Farah, I'm getting you a present."  
"Only if you want to." She smiled at him. "But thank you. We'll head into the town, and you can get whatever you want. Then we can have some coffee."

Dirk practically skipped to the car, wondering what would be best for Mona as a present. Something that would interest her, or inspire her acting perhaps. He frowned, deep in thought, as they drove to the mall.

***

"Money time!" Martin yelled.   
"What?"  
"We put all the money together and Gripps divides it!" Vogel explains. "Then we go and buy Secret Santa stuff. You get a dollar per person for the dollar store, and gotta get everyone a gift, and then there's a person each and you gotta get them a big present."

"I… see," Amanda answered, digging into her wallet and pulling out five dollars she'd tucked there for safe keeping, as the rest of the Rowdies emptied wallets and pockets onto the ground.

Gripps crouched down, dividing it into six piles.  
"Who wants to take Rainbow shopping?" Cross asked, and Gripps and Vogel both raised their hands. Beast looked considering, then ran over to Cross.  
"Circle boy nice!"  
Amanda smiled a little as she was handed five dollars, as was everyone else.  
"That's for your presents. Then everyone picks a name, and check it's not yours, and then off we go to get stuff. It goes in a bag and no one looks till the day, you hear me?"  
"Sure thing Boss."  
"Sounds good."  
"PREZENTS!"  
"So many presents!"   
"This is the best time of year!"

When total agreement had been given, everyone was given their share of the rest - forty two dollars and fifty cents, giving just over seven dollars each. Then Martin handed around some pieces of paper, which each person unfolded. Amanda smiled to see she had been given Gripps, her mind already filling for ideas with him.  
"OH COOL I GOT DRUMMER!" Vogel yelled, and then fell silent when the others looked at him.  
"Don't worry," Amanda promised. "I already forgot."  
"Oh, that's okay, I got y-" Vogel fell silent at a glare from Martin.

"You and Rainbow go off first okay?" Martin suggested. "Find some snacks for the van, then come back so we can go gift shopping.” Vogel ran off with Beast.   
"So who got Vogel?" Martin asked. Cross raised his hand.

"Now, Drummer, you gotta give Cross two dollars."  
She did so, looking at him curiously.  
"Always gotta get him something extra nice. It's a rule."  
"Okay," she smiled at that, imagining them trying to surprise Vogel when he was younger. 

Cross gathered in the extra six dollars, and then they pocketed their money and went to search the nearest thrift store.

***

Dirk returned, laden with shopping bags. He wasn't entirely sure how this would all fit in the car for the return journey. He just hoped that the others would like what he picked. He chewed on his lip nervously, eyes scanning the cafe for them. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Todd there, holding two drinks. He approached, and had a marshmallow-topped hot chocolate handed to him.

He kissed Todd's cheek, carefully arranging the bag so that none of the purchases were visible, and then took a sip of the drink, cuddling against him and waiting for Farah to arrive. He felt hopeful that they'd like the presents, and even more hopeful that even if they hated them, they would still like him.


	13. Snow Day

"No Todd, you cannot come in."  
"Dirk, this is literally my bedroom, you sleep in my room. Whatever is going on-"  
"You aren't allowed in," Dirk repeated, getting up to lock the door and hearing Todd mutter to himself outside. Dirk ignored his complaint. He had presents to wrap, and Todd would just have to handle being outside until he was ready to present them to the world, because the alternative would involve revealing the gifts too early, and that would spoil the spirit of Christmas.

He was struggling to defeat a tangle of tape, wondering how on earth Farah made it look so easy when she created perfectly wrapped boxes with little bows on. She made them look good, whereas all he had created was a mess.

"Dirk, it's snowing outside!" Todd yelled, and Dirk looked up slightly, feeling rather hopeful. He wanted to go and play in the snow, and in this small detail at least the Universe appeared willing to listen to his wishes. He stowed what he had wrapped away, picking up his sister - she was being the Panic Pete doll, and serving as an incredibly helpful paperweight - and threw open the door.  
"Is it really? This wasn't all some evil plot so that you could see the present I wrapped for you?"  
"Dirk, wonderful though I am certain your gifts are, I'm not that desperate. It's snowing pretty heavily."

"Snowball fight?" Dirk asked. "Mona and me against you and Farah?"  
Todd nodded, and Dirk grinned, running outside and hugging the Panic Pete doll.  
"Mona, you fancy being a catapult?"

He shrugged at the trebuchet that settled into place beside him.  
"Yeah, that works too." He started to load her with snow.

***

"More snow, boss," Vogel whined. Amanda looked out, glad that they had found an abandoned barn to park in the previous night which kept the worst of the snow off of them and meant that they weren't trapped.  
"You want to play in it?"  
"Yeah!" Vogel bounced, and Amanda grinned.  
"That okay with you guys?"  
"Sure, you kids have fun," Martin teased. "Me, Gripps and Cross'll get a big fire going, we're gonna need it with the weather. Just don't you go too far, you hear me?"

"Yeah," Amanda agreed, and shivered a little. She told herself it was the cold that was bothering her, but she couldn't shake a slight sense of unease. She decided she wouldn't stray too far from the van.

"You okay Drummer?"  
"You smell wacked up!"  
"Tell us if you need help."  
"No," she shook her head. "It's not an attack. I just feel..." she hesitated, glancing at Martin helplessly. He nodded, lighting a cigarette.  
"I feel it too. You kids go and play, we won't go too far."

Amanda nodded, laughing when Vogel threw himself backwards onto the ground to make a snow angel, only to scream in protest a few seconds later when he became cold. 

She didn't want to risk making a snow angel herself, knowing it would trigger an attack, but she was content to watch Vogel enjoying himself. Whatever trouble was brewing, it could wait. She had time with her family to enjoy first.


	14. Comfy Couch Day

Todd heard Dirk before he saw him, the other man's presence announced by his sneezing, loudly, on the way into the room. Todd stayed sprawled across the sofa - he was still a little annoyed by quite how dramatically Dirk and Mona had handled the snowball fight yesterday.

To be fair to Dirk, if Amanda had been able to turn into some kind of catapult, he would totally use her to win a snowball fight. But she couldn't, and so Dirk was cheating and using an unfair advantage. Todd pouted slightly to himself, as Dirk shuffled into the room cocooned in a blanket which appeared to be wriggling. He glared, and the blanket settled down, swapping into a small fluffy kitten which tried to climb his leg.

For a split second, Todd considered kicking Mona away, before reminding himself that he was trying very hard not to be an asshole, and that attacking defenceless kittens was _definitely_ assholeish behaviour. He bent down and picked her up, placing her on his lap and shuffled over so Dirk could sit beside him.  
"I'm still pissed," he muttered, but then he twisted to press a kiss to Dirk's cheek, trying to show him he didn't mean it. "You look tired."  
"'S a reason for that." Dirk yawned, curling up against him. "Feel all sleepy and snuggly today, thought maybe we could cuddle up and watch a movie you pick and drink hot chocolate."  
"Dirk, you hate my movies."  
"I did send a large ball of snow at your head yesterday. I'm trying to impress you."

"It's working," Todd answered. "Now, I'm trapped under Mona, so you will have to go and get the hot chocolate. One for me too. And then we can cuddle under the blanket and watch Die Hard."

Dirk opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, succeeding in looking like a particularly stupid goldfish, then nodded and headed into the kitchen, emerging a little later with mugs loaded high with marshmallows and cream. He placed them down, and Mona dived face first towards Dirk's. He managed to rescue her before she became completely coated in it, but she settled back on Todd's lap, licking her face clean with a look of utter satisfaction.

"Why are you mad at me when it was Mona that was a trebuchet?"  
"She's cute."  
"I thought I was cute."  
"Not when you fish for compliments after dumping a pile of snow on me," Todd answered, but he leaned in and kissed Dirk's cheek to reassure him that all was forgiven now. Dirk cuddled him close, picking up his hot chocolate and glaring.  
"Mona, don't shed in my drink, it's rude."

***

The metal floor of the van was normally a comfortable temperature to lay on, softened as it was by the pile of blankets the boys had put down. Today, it was roasting. Amanda could feel the heat gradually increasing, her skin beginning to sear as she screamed and struggled in agony. Hands gripped her, forcing her down against the hot metal, and she screamed.

The world turned blue, and the screams died on her lips as a slideshow of images flashed before her eyes, faster than she could follow. She saw smoke, and snow, and fire dancing across rooftops. She saw a discarded gas canister, a torn birthday card, and then a figure walking calmly across a bridge that was aflame.

She fell back, panting for air, and Vogel helped her to sit as Cross held a bottle of water to her lips. She sipped it thirstily, trying to stop her mouth from feeling so dry.  
"You're okay," Cross told her, and Gripps rubbed her back.  
"Your adrenaline spiked. We were helping within twenty three seconds."  
"Thanks boys. Sorry I woke you."  
"It ain't nothing Drummer," Martin reassured her, offering her a cigarette.  
"You see any wacky visions boss?"

"Saw someone walking through a fire," she answered. "Couldn't see their face but they looked... like they belonged there." She took a deep breath. "And... lots of smoke... Hey, Vogel, we got any candy?"

"I can go get some!" He raced off, and Amanda groaned.   
"I think Blackwing is coming," she admitted, and Martin nodded.  
"We're gonna be ready for you."  
"What about that crazy fire lady-dude?" Cross asked.  
"They were fire. Drummer saw fire so maybe it was them," Gripps reasoned.

"Another prisoner of Blackwing?"  
"Yeah. Bad news but smart. Liked setting fire. They were in a low-oxygen cell when they were there, and when they got out... well, they helped burn the place to the ground."  
"They?"  
"Never got a good look at them."  
"Turned to fire whenever you got close!" Cross agreed, and Amanda nodded, yawning a little and smiling when Vogel wandered over with some candy. Even with her guys, attacks were tiring. She closed her eyes, and napped for a little, waking up to find that they had found an old sofa from somewhere and placed it near their fire. She settled down on the less stained cushion, and smiled at them, leaning against Cross who stroked her hair as Gripps painted her nails and Vogel tried to make smores.


	15. Mulled Wine

Dirk knew he was bad at cooking. He'd barely seen a kitchen - he thought he might have helped Mumie, a lifetime ago, but Blackwing meant that food came on trays with plastic cutlery, if you were lucky. You ate what you were given and didn't complain. Since then, he'd never really bothered getting the hang of cooking, or of food. If he needed to eat, the universe would provide. If he got sick from what he found, then that would end up being a clue. He was powerless, a leaf on a stream he couldn't control or shape, and cooking required far too much skill to be a use to him.

Todd wasn't exactly good at cooking, fulfilling every stereotype of a man who lived alone, but compared to Dirk he was wonderful. Still, Dirk wanted to make Todd something. It was just that whenever he tried, something went wrong, often in spectacular and rather concerning ways (he had managed to set fire to a salad following a rather bizarre chain of events and a rogue pigeon). His dreams of domestic bliss were once again being ruined by the universe. He sighed, picking up a Christmas cooking book Farah had brought around (she was trying to decide on a dessert to bring for Hobbs). There had to be something in here he wouldn't totally ruin. He just wanted to do something nice, surely the universe would give him that.

He sighed. The universe wasn't exactly inclined to give him anything. The pages in front of him rustled, flicking through until they settled on something. He picked it up, snorting when he saw the most complicated cake he'd ever seen.  
"Thanks," he complained, then turned the page over, smiling when he saw something with a grand total of five ingredients and two instructions. He could do that.

He started to look through the cupboard. He'd need to get a bottle of wine. They had some sugar, and cloves. He didn't know what a star anise was, but hopefully it didn't matter. There was a lemon at the back of the fridge that looked a little dry but not mouldy. It would do. So he had three, soon to be four, of the main ingredients. Instructions were to put ingredients together, cook for ten minutes, then leave to cool for a bit. He could do this.

He took a deep breath. He could do this, he was sure of it. He ran to the store, grabbing a bottle of wine, paying and running straight back. He was determined to minimise the time the universe could interfere.

He got home, pouring the wine into a saucepan and then putting it on the cooking-device. Not the oven, but the circles above it. He frowned a little, looking thoughtful. Low heat. He turned the dial on that was for the right circle, adding the cloves, sugar and cut chunks of skin off the lemon and threw it in. He poked at it with a spoon. It smelled nice, which was probably positive. He was determined to get this right. He continued to stir it. He could do that, stir it for ten minutes then put it to one side. It was going to be fine.

***

"You like mulled wine Drummer?"

"Sure?" Amanda shrugged, and Martin grinned, searching around in the back of the van and pulling out a big metal pot.

"Does mulled cider work?"

She grinned, grabbing some of the cider bottles and opening them. The two of them poured the liquid into the bowl, as Gripps measured out the spices and Vogel and Cross made a fire.

"Make this a lot in the winter. Keep the bowl and the spices special."

"Oh?"

Martin winked, and poured something from his hip flask into the bowl. "It's warming."

Amanda smiled.

"I know what else is warming..."

Martin laughed, leaning in for a kiss before going to place the bowl against the fire. Gripps snuggled against Amanda.

"You are happy. Me too."

"Yeah," she agreed. "Happier than I ever imagined."

***

"Something smells good..." Todd called out as he arrived back home from wherever he had been getting things for Christmas.

"I made mulled wine!" Dirk poured it out, trying not to splash it. He was not sure how warm it was meant to be, but this probably wasn't going to burn anyone, so he thought it was going to be okay. He headed out into the kitchen, holding the cup out to Todd.

Todd took a sip, then smiled.

"You... actually made something that tastes good."

Dirk grinned and took a sip of his own, then leaned in to kiss Todd.


	16. Christmas Market

"Ugh," Amanda groaned, a headache threatening. One of the worst issues with her boys, as far as she could tell, was they couldn't remove hangovers. This was a serious oversight in her view. Now there was something beeping against her head, and she wanted to push it away, but she had to deal with it. She grabbed her phone, opening it to see she had several messages. Most were from Farah, which worried her. She pressed on the first, panicking a little, then smiling when she saw a photograph of Farah and Tina - the latter of whom had a pair of reindeer antlers perched on her head. 

"We're at the Christmas Market in town. Want to come? Beast too."  
"Girls only?" Amanda texted Tina back, knowing that she would have her phone to hand and not worry.  
"Mona'd love to see you. But yes, girls only."  
"Mona the antlers?"  
"Isn't she stylish?!" Tina asked, followed by a series of heart emojis. 

"Stunning. We're on our way."  
Amanda pushed away her hangover, sitting up and realising that Beast had helpfully left glasses of water near them all.  
"Thanks."  
"Yer Welkem!" Beast grinned.   
"Boys, me and Beast are off on a shopping trip with Farah and Tina and you aren't invited."

"You're taking Rainbow?"  
"Yup."  
"Why can't we go?" Vogel protested.  
"Girls only." Amanda answered, and Vogel frowned.  
"So?"

Amanda shrugged.  
"I just want some time with my friends."  
"Okay..." Vogel answered. "You're coming back though?"  
"Course." She ruffled his hair. "Couldn't leave my guys."

Martin shrugged.  
"Let's get you there then."  
They piled into the van, the metal bowl for mulled wine thrown in with the rest, and they headed into town. She climbed out, holding onto Beast's hand.  
"Don't run off okay? Don't wanna lose you."  
"Stay wi'frenz," Beast agreed, cuddling her side. Amanda texted Tina, making her way over to where they were sitting, and buying a hot chocolate for both of them.  
"So what's the plan?"

"Relax," Tina answered. "Flirt with Farah, me not you, and keep an eye on friends from parallel worlds, you not me."  
Amanda nodded.  
"Hey Mona!"

The antlers changed colour briefly, and Beast squeaked enthusiastically. Amanda sipped her hot chocolate, trying to avoid the fact something felt wrong. She was out in public without her guys, and an attack could happen. Farah reached out, holding up a bottle of pills.  
"Borrowed some from Todd."  
"I didn't even say-"  
"You get the same look he does when you're worrying." 

"Thanks." Amanda took the offered tablets, so that she had them if they were needed, and walked with the others around the market. There were all kinds of delicate ornaments, none of which would fit with the van.

She paused, seeing some stockings. They'd always had them at home, and wasn't sure if the Rowdies had any. She certainly hadn’t seen any. So she could use that, take it home to the van, bring her own tradition to all of theirs.

Even if all there was in there was some sweets, it was something. Plus if they were going to be spending Christmas with her brother's boyfriend and his family, she wanted to have something that was just theirs. She bought six of the stockings, using her card - she didn't use it much, wanting to cut off her old life from her new, but this was important. 

She then had to spend the rest of the time they were traipsing around the market carrying six stockings, but it was worth it if it would make the boys smile. Farah was organised, buying a few small things which made her check a list on her phone and smile, and Tina was carrying around a giant plushie dog - won for her by Farah at a shooting game.

All in all, the day was good, and Amanda wished they had more time as the sun began to sink low in the sky and it was time to head home. She felt a strange itching at the back of her neck - not an attack, but a sense she was being watched. 

She turned, but saw no one there.

She hurried down the street, soothed when she heard a familiar growl of the engine starting up. Beast ran around to the front, waving and bouncing, and Amanda walked to the back of the van, smiling as the doors open. She saw something stuck in the footplate.

She pulled it out, realising it was an envelope. There was no name.  
"Weird..." She climbed through the van, clambering into the front, and opening the envelope.

The card inside was brightly coloured, with Spider Man holding a number eleven. Martin grabbed it from her, and she saw it was blank. Then he was tearing the card apart, and holding a lighter to it, dropping the flaming paper on the ground.  
"We gotta move," he growled.

She settled into the passenger seat - knowing she wanted to ask, but giving herself some time to work out what to say, and him some time to breathe. He looked over at her as he continued down the road.

"It was your birthday?" she asked, and he nodded.  
"Yeah. The eleventh. When we had our two week to go party."  
"You could have said."  
"Didn't wanna say," he snarled. "Don't have that life no more."

"Okay." She lit herself a cigarette, offering him one which he took gratefully. He reached into the glove compartment, pulling out a battered and torn photograph of two boys, both blond and skinny, with wide grins on their faces.  
"Only one who ever cared about my birthday was my brother, and... he ain't here no more. Not after Blackwing. They near killed me, but I was strong enough to make it, and he wasn’t." Martin sighed, wiping a hand against his eyes as though that would stop the tears that were threatening. He put the photo back and shook his head.  
"Got you guys now. Drummer and my Rowdy boys. Blackwing doesn’t get to change shit no more." He took a deep breath. "How was your shopping Drummer?"  
"Yeah," she tried to smile at him in answer. "We had fun." She reached out, resting her hand over his. "But I'm home now." 

He nodded, and drove on in silence.


	17. Baking Cookies

Amanda had been thinking a lot over the past day as the van drove onwards. About what she had seen, and about what it meant - what that card which Martin had destroyed was about. 

Now the guys were making a fire, and she moved to sit beside him.  
"Martin?"  
"Yeah Drummer?"  
"That photograph..." She hesitated, worried about getting this wrong, but hoping she'd somehow misunderstood. "It was him, wasn't it? Priest."

Martin nodded, sitting stiffly.  
"Always tried. Didn't... didn't do good enough. Couldn't help him."  
"That's not on you," she answered. "You did great with the guys, and with Vogel. Some things just... can't be fixed."

Martin didn't answer, the flames of the fire reflected in his eyes. She reached out and squeezed his hand gently.  
"Come on, let's make some smores."

He nodded slowly, his eyes still staring into the flames. She smiled, reaching out for a nearby stick and impaling a marshmallow onto it, then handing it to Martin. He put it into the flame, still lost in thought. She focused on cooking her own and making sure that Vogel's didn't drop into the ash (mostly because she half-expected that Vogel would dive after it). Martin didn't speak, but seemed focused on the task he was doing, and when he'd finished and started eating it he looked a little calmer. She handed him another marshmallow, enjoying the peace while it lasted.

She completed a smore then went to find Beast, smiling when she found her perched on top of the van. Beast grabbed the food when it was held out.  
"Thankes for fud!" She scrambled backwards to eat, and Amanda shrugged, returning to the fire. Beast would come down later, and Martin looked a little more relaxed now. She could handle this for tonight.

***

"Todd? Todd? Wake up Todd. Toooooodd."  
"I'm awake," Todd muttered, turning over and snuggling into his pillow. "What?"  
"Cookies?"  
"Huh?" Todd groaned, blinking up at Dirk in the hope that he would be imagining it. But no, apparently Dirk was sitting up in bed, staring at his phone.  
"Cookies! You know what cookies are. They're delicious Todd, do keep up."

"I know what cookies are," Todd agreed as he struggled to wake his brain up. "Why are we talking about cookies?"  
"It's an emergency."

"Dirk, it's... five in the morning. Why do we have a cookie related emergency at five in the morning?"  
"Hobbs needs us to come and help make cookies."  
"At five in the morning?"  
"He said when we wake up, and we're awake now, so yes."

"How… Why does Hobbs need emergency cookies?"  
"He's handing them out to the local kids tomorrow so he wanted us to come and help. Mona's being a spoon!" He held up a spoon, waving it through the air to demonstrate his point. "And then after we've made the cookie mix she's going to be a cookie cutter so they can be different shapes."  
"Of course," Todd muttered, pretending that this was all perfectly normal. "She's being a cookie cutter."  
"Later," Dirk agreed with a nod. "But we need to go to Hobbs. Tina and Farah are already there, they're helping and they're handing them out. I can't go and hand them out, but you could? Or you can stay with me and Mona and eat what's left of the cookies."  
"Why can't you hand them out?"  
"Hobbs is dressing up and..." He glanced significantly towards the spoon.

Todd sighed. Of course, Mona's fear of Santa Claus. He rubbed his forehead, considering.  
"Are the others in outfits?"  
"Tina will be, and there's one for you. Farah hasn't decided yet."

Todd hesitated. On the one hand, seeing Farah dressed up could be hilarious. On the other, he wasn't sure he wanted to risk the possibility of Amanda getting a picture of him as an elf. He sighed and smiled.  
"I think I'd rather stay with you two."

"Brilliant! If we start driving now we should be there when they get to the station, and we can have a whole day of cookie making."

Todd groaned, considering trying to get some more sleep. Dirk was practically vibrating with excitement. He sighed, stretched, and climbed out of bed.  
"Go and get dressed, we've got cookies to make."

He wanted to curl back up under his blankets, but the smile that Dirk gave him almost made the lack of sleep worthwhile.

He would reconsider a few hours later when his arms felt like they were going to drop off, but at least Dirk was happy.


	18. Buying a Tree

Patience did not come easily to Todd, but he had been doing his best to be supportive of Dirk this Christmas, even when things took longer than he would have liked. He was willing to endure endless hours of fussing as Dirk tried to adjust the tinsel so that it was "Perfectly Christmassy", whatever that meant. This though, this was getting ridiculous.

Dirk was choosing a Christmas tree.

Dirk had been choosing a Christmas tree for the past three hours, and was currently deeply in conversation with his bobble hat about which tree would be a best fit for the Agency, and which for his and Todd's apartment. For Todd, the knowledge that the hat was actually Dirk's sister was some comfort. However, the other customers at the store did not know this, and were giving Dirk an even wider berth than he normally got. Mona wasn't responding, which was in itself probably a relief. This was awkward enough, without having to explain a talking hat.

To Todd, all of the trees looked pretty much the same. Okay, so there were a couple that had broken branches or were a bit scraggly, but all the rest were perfectly interchangeable. He was sure he could swap them and even the vendor wouldn't notice. And yet for Dirk, this decision was apparently worth spending three hours on. Todd groaned, his fingers wiggling in their gloves. He was cold, and tired, and had nothing to contribute. He wished he had just brought Farah along.

"Dirk, we've already got our plastic tree-"  
"Yes Todd, we have the punk tree." Dirk grinned. "And it is wonderful. But I want us to have a week of proper festivity prior to heading to Hobbs' place. And you said that the punk tree wasn't suitable for the Agency. We can decorate our one, and Farah can do the office one, and Mona can help her! It's going to be wonderful."

Todd groaned, fighting down the headache that was threatening.  
"Can you just hurry up?"  
"Todd, this is a vital decision for the success of our Christmas. I am not willing to risk you feeling disappointed with my end result, and therefore you will just need to wait-"  
"Dirk." Todd sighed. "Whatever you pick will be fine."  
"Do you think this one's a little tall?" Dirk asked. "I want the Agency tree to look impressive, but I also don't want Farah at risk of injury when she decorates. Although, if Mona is assisting that is perhaps less of a concern than otherwise-"  
"Dirk," Todd snapped slightly. "I want to go home. It's cold."

Dirk flinched, and Todd mentally cursed himself. This whole thing was stupid, but it mattered to Dirk, and that meant he'd wait.  
"Take as long as you need."  
"These two," Dirk said firmly. He ran his hand over one of the ones he had selected, blinking when a piece of paper fell into his hand.  
"Dirk?"  
"Oh... uh," Dirk looked. "Just a note from Bart saying Happy Christmas. That's sweet."  
"...How did Bart-" Todd began to ask, then sighed and fell silent, knowing his question would just be met with 'everything is connected'. "Come on, let’s pay for these and get them home."

***

"What about here?" Martin parked the van up, looking around. "Not too far from where you're meeting your brother, Drummer, and got what we need."

Amanda nodded. The Rowdies generally needed things to smash, space for a fire, and their van. The spot that Martin had chosen had fulfilled all of those requirements nicely.

"We got a tree?" Vogel asked enthusiastically, scurrying out from the van to try and climb a pine tree that was nearby. Martin watched him and smirked.  
"Get down from there, boy. We can decorate it in the morning."  
"Okay!" Vogel dropped down, and Amanda smiled.  
"You guys want a tree?"  
"Might as well, it's right there. Fate or some shit."

Amanda considered how long they had spent that morning cruising around for somewhere to park, and wisely decided it was better not to comment.  
"So what now?"  
"You want to carry on with fighting practice?" Martin suggested. Amanda shrugged. Fighting practice mostly consisted of her getting slammed into the floor, repeatedly, by Cross, and occasionally tackled to the ground by Vogel. It left her bruised, but it didn't cause attacks, and meant she got to spend time with her boys. She considered for a moment more, then nodded.  
"Sure, just go easy on me okay?" 

The guys laughed, and she climbed out of the van, stretching to warm up the way Cross had taught her.


	19. Decorating the Tree

There are many approaches to decorating Christmas trees. What follows is merely a description of three of them.

***

"Thank you Mona." Farah smiled as she jumped off of the step ladder, patting the metal gratefully. She stepped back to admire their handiwork. The tree was decorated in silver, with ornaments in blue and white. "What do you think?"

Mona stretched beside her, stepping back to admire it.  
"I think it looks very pretty."  
"Thanks to you." Farah smiled, then reached up to try and adjust some of the tinsel, wanting to make sure it looked perfect. She frowned, stepping back again and wondering if the ornaments were too much on one side. Mona smiled at her.   
"I think it looks pretty. Please don't worry?"

"Okay,." Farah answered. "Do you want to be the star on top?"  
"For a little while please!" Mona agreed, before turning into an elegant metal star with fine filigree decoration covering her. Farah picked her up, carrying her over to the tree and then balancing on Todd's chair to place her on top of the tree.

"You look great," she told her. "If you get bored, you hop down, we've got other ornaments that we can use."

The star didn't respond, focusing very hard on being an ornament. Farah smiled, taking a photograph and sending it to Dirk and to Tina. The tree wasn't entirely perfect, but she was pleased with how it looked, and she thought the others would probably approve.

She took one last look at it, and decided it would do for now at least. She went to make her coffee, trying not to worry about the loud crash that she heard from upstairs.

***

"Ow." Dirk whined from the floor, where he was half-buried under a pine tree. Todd looked at him, making no move to assist.  
"Are you not going to help me?" Dirk asked.

"I'm trying to decide if I should take a picture," Todd answered. "Plus you're staying still for once." He crouched down, helping lift the tree and then quickly removing several of the ornaments. "Dirk, I said you need to do the ornaments around the tree... if you put them all on one side it's going to fall over."  
"It shouldn't fall over Todd, it should be more stable than that."

"Dirk, you are putting on a lot of ornaments," Todd argued.  
"I'm making sure it looks appropriately festive." Dirk got to his feet, frowning at Todd in disapproval.  
"It's not festive if its sideways, Dirk."  
"I've never seen anything saying sideways trees aren't festive," Dirk muttered to himself, before beginning to adjust the positioning of some of the ornaments in an attempt to make the tree a little more stable. Todd settled down beside him, helping him move the ornaments so that it wasn't going to crush either of them.

A few minutes later he stepped away. To some people, the tree would have looked like a mess, a mixture of different coloured tinsels and ornaments all jammed together on the branches. To Dirk though, it looked amazing. He and Todd had done this, together. As a family. He'd always dreamed of having someone to do things like this with, and now he had the opportunity.

Todd smiled and wrapped an arm around him.   
"I think it looks good."  
"It's a disaster," Dirk answered with a smile and a meaningful glance towards Todd. "It belongs here."

Todd considered.  
"Hey..." He couldn't complain too much though, because Dirk leaned over and silenced him with a kiss.

***

"So how do we decorate it?"  
"Like the van?" Cross suggested, pointing at the mess of tinsel and sparkles that filled the back of the vehicle.   
"However we want," Martin answered, reaching out and squeezing her shoulder. "That's the fun of it."

"Buries end leeves!" Beast called out, rushing off into the undergrowth to find some decorations. Vogel had found some more tinsel from somewhere. Cross was clambering up the trunk as Gripps counted the needles, and Martin kept watch. 

The end result was somewhat different from the traditional tree. It had other branches and berries mixed into it, alongside tinsel, crushed beer cans, and some braided string. A few of the needles had what looked like nail polish on them. But it was their tree. Amanda couldn't help smiling to herself as she looked up at it, seeing how Beast had found a comfortable nook in the branches to curl up in. She glanced over at Martin, who smiled.  
"It's a good tree this year, guys."


	20. Pre-Christmas Stress

Farah stared at the notice she had printed for the door, explaining that the agency would be closed the December 22nd to 26th, and the 30th-January 1st. It seemed a long time to be closed, and almost as though they were tempting fate by asking the universe to give them that long without a case. Because there were all kinds of jobs which walked in, but the difficult ones Dirk just found.

She could feel a headache building. She really wasn't sure about leaving the agency unattended for so long, even though spending time with Tina and Hobbs and Dirk and Todd - the whole family - was a dream come true. It just felt like something was going to go wrong.

Her worries were confirmed when Dirk walked in, a frown on his face. He looked from side to side in concern, before approaching her and hugging her briefly.  
"What's wrong, Dirk?" she asked, her fingers itching for her gun. It wasn't good to see Dirk looking this worried. It normally meant some kind of chaos would follow.  
"What if Todd hates what I've got him for Christmas?" Dirk whispered. "I mean, this is a big thing, and if I ruin it..."  
"Dirk. You won't ruin it," she promised, smiling as Todd arrived. "He's besotted with you."

"Who is besotted with Dirk?" Todd asked, instantly on the defensive. Farah smiled softly to herself.   
"You are."   
"Oh, that's alright then," Todd murmured, half to himself. Farah tried not to grin too widely, but couldn't help a smile escaping. Todd echoed the smile, pulling his pill bottle from his pocket and then frowning when he saw there were only a couple left.

"Todd?" Farah asked. "You did remember to order more tablets, didn't you? Like Dirk reminded you to a couple of weeks ago."  
"If I say yes will you believe me?" Todd asked, shaking a tablet onto his hand. He inspected it carefully, as though half-expecting it to become multiple tablets and rescue him from his own stupidity. That did not happen.  
"Todd," Farah groaned. "Okay, Dirk, you're going to have to watch the agency while I take Todd to the pharmacy and get an emergency refill." She rubbed her forehead. "Stay here, keep an eye on Mona, and don't do anything too disastrous, do you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," Dirk agreed. "Mona sit and don't cause disasters."  
Farah considered, then shrugged.   
"Try not to allow any disasters to happen to you either, Dirk," she instructed, even though in her heart she suspected that it was something out of his control. As she'd suspected, he opened his mouth, starting to say "It doesn't work like that." She nodded, and cuddled him.  
"Just look after Mona and we'll be back soon."

Dirk nodded, smiling fondly at the Christmas tree before watching as Farah ushered Todd out of the agency.   
"What would you two do without me?"  
"Probably have died in our first case," Todd answered quickly. "But you're here and you are awesome."   
"You're lucky I like you," she muttered, walking a little quicker through the streets, checking her watch to make sure that they wouldn't be too late. "If we can't find them today, we can get some tomorrow morning, but I don't want you having attacks tonight if you can avoid them. You need to keep on top of this, Todd."

Todd nodded, having the decency to look embarrassed as they hurried through the streets together, arriving at a pharmacy and booking in for an appointment.

***

Amanda woke up to the sound of someone thumping their hands against the van. She heard a low growl from the guys, but she shook her head. Whoever it was, they weren't a threat. There was a threat coming but it wasn't at the door yet. She opened it to see a figure standing there, in only a t-shirt and shorts. They weren't much taller than her. The figure had pale skin, red hair, and a dusting of freckles across their face. Their eyes looked like fire, flames dancing within them.  
"They're coming," the figure said, and behind her Amanda could hear the Rowdies moving, Beast being hidden beneath a blanket for her own safety as the guys armed themselves.

"They've been watching us," Amanda agreed. "But it's you they are after?"  
"I felt like this was... I need to be here. They don't know yet..." The figure held out their hand. "Hestia."  
"Amanda of the Rowdy Three."  
"Good to meet you Amanda. I need to get up onto your roof if you would be kind enough to assist?"

Gripps stepped forwards, lifting up the figure, who flattened themselves against the top of the van.   
"What now?" Amanda asked, and Hestia shrugged.  
"Feel this is where I need to be."

There was silence, and Amanda looked around nervously. She was sure that some time soon, their peace would be interrupted, but she didn't want that. She wanted everything to stay calm, a little longer.

Something sailed through the air, and she caught sight of what looked like a soda can at her feet. She growled in concern, hearing Martin hissing angrily behind her as the can split open and gas started to escape.  
"Back!" Hestia shouted, and she jumped away as the gas canister caught fire.

"You got our little freak there Marty?" came a voice from the woodland, and Priest stepped forwards, a smirk on his face. "Knew I could count on my baby brother to lure them in for me."

Amanda stepped forwards.  
"He isn't your family any more."  
"Drop it girl. You don't know what you're getting muddled up in."

Amanda closed her eyes for a moment, and then opened them, feeling the power flowing through her. If she had been able to see her own eyes, she would have seen the fractal pattern which had taken over them.  
"You're a holistic too," she murmured, her voice carrying as though over a long distance. "And you think that Hestia is yours, but they aren't."  
"Don't know who is going to stop me," Priest answered. Amanda shook her head, clearing her vision, and glancing over her shoulder up at where Hestia stood.  
"Hes, can you take out the gas canisters?"  
"With pleasure," they answered. 

"Then we will stop you," Martin answered. "Come on boys. Wanna rush?"

With that the four male rowdies ran forwards, all armed with their weapon of choice.  
"Just get them out of the clearing!" Amanda shouted, her mind being guided now. She searched through the tinsel in the van until she found where her wand had ended up, and then she spun it through the air, starting to chant, the words coming to her without a thought. 

Purple light sprawled from the wand, snaking through the grass of the undergrowth, filling the clearing, and then rising into a dome. She whistled as the ropes of magic began to mat over her head.  
"Boys!"

The four of them raced back, leaving the Rowdies and their new guest inside, and everyone else outside. She took a deep breath.  
"That will keep them out for now."  
"Thank you," Hestia answered. "I'm sorry I brought this trouble to you."  
"We'll be okay," Amanda answered, putting the wand down, confident that the barrier would stay in place for now. "Do... do you need some food?"  
"A drink would be great," Hestia smiled. "And if you want smores-" They held up a hand, and flame erupted over their skin. Amanda applauded, glad it didn't seem to hurt them the way it hurt her.  
"Smores!" Vogel cheered, and Hestia extinguished the flames with a blink, running their hand through their hair.   
"Thank you."  
"It's what we do," Amanda promised, reaching out to embrace them. They shivered but clung to her tightly.


	21. A calm Friday

"If you could just move slightly to the side Mona?" Dirk asked the paperweight, nodding and murmuring his thanks as she rolled sideways a little before straightening up, allowing him to make another cut in the wrapping paper. He had never realised before how complicated a task wrapping gifts (and wrapping them well) was, but it was obvious to him that they all deserved it. Mona had been kind enough to assist him, so the two of them were sat on the floor in the bedroom that was technically his, working on finishing the pile of gifts. Then he would place them under the tree for a little while, until they could all go into the car to go to Hobbs' place.

Today was for relaxing - he could cuddle up with Todd and Farah and watch Christmas movies, and Mona had plans to be a blanket and drape herself over their laps. This was what he needed. Some time with his new family, with no worries, no Rowdies hammering down the door. Just a chance to relax and feel at peace, and for once things didn't feel like it would break. He thought that this once, the Universe might show him mercy.

He tore off another piece of tape, sticking together the last piece of wrapping paper and stepping back to admire his handiwork. It wasn't as neat as Farah's, which looked as though they had been wrapped professionally. It wasn't even as good as Todd's, who looked like he knew what he was doing, but there were only a couple of glimpses of the item inside, and nothing that revealed what he had gotten, so really he felt this was a success. He picked Mona up, carrying her into the other room and settling on the sofa, stroking his fingers over her when she turned into a blanket, and smiling and kissing Todd on the cheek as the film began.

***

Hestia had chosen to sleep beside the bonfire the previous night, saying that they felt safer there than inside. Amanda hadn't protested, trusting that they would know what felt best for them. She woke to the smell of bacon, and ventured outside the van to find that Hestia was preparing cooked breakfast for them all.

"Morning," Hestia called out, holding out a plate. "These are ready."

She took the food off of them, sitting down opposite them. "So, what’s your plan now?"  
"I don't know," they answered, and they were shivering a little. Amanda moved so she could bump her shoulder against them as they played with the fire coating one of their hands. 

"What do you like?"  
"Freedom?" They shrugged a little. "I feel like I haven't learned yet. I want that chance."  
"There we go then," Amanda answered, then paused. "What about... I mean, Dirk was on the loose for a while-"  
"I went home." Hestia shrugged. "They helped hide me away. It kept me away from Blackwing, but it was another form of prison... feeling like I should be out in the world again... I really appreciate your kindness. I want to move on soon, but perhaps... if I could just stay a day or two, to get things together-"  
"You could stay for Christmas if you wanted?" Amanda suggested. They laughed and shook their head.   
"I can leave tomorrow. Today... I'd like to just talk to you. Relax? If that's-"  
"I'm sure we can, just need to ask the boys-"  
"That sounds okay by me." Martin strode out of the van, and grabbed a plate of food. "You do what you need to, Hest. We got nowhere to be for now."


	22. Last Minute Shopping

Dirk was comfortable in bed, his beloved Todd beside him snoring softly. Todd, endearingly, insisted that he did not snore, but Dirk knew that this was a lie. He liked the noise though - not loud enough to wake him, but loud enough to encroach into his dreams, and prove to him that he wasn't alone. There was never a sound like Todd's snoring in Blackwing. Hearing it proved to him that he wasn't back there, like a promise of freedom in every breath.

Dirk himself was dozing, contented and excited at the thought that soon enough it would be Christmas, and he would be surrounded by people he loved. He had only the foggiest of memories of Christmas with Mumie, and in Blackwing the only good thing about Christmas was it a day a lot of the staff took off, and so was more peaceful than the rest. After his escape, he had been free but alone, and Mona made a marvellous squeak toy, but had not really been feeling overly infused with the Christmas spirit. This year it was going to be different. There was nothing in the world that could spoil his mood.

A hand pressed against his mouth, and he almost screamed as he looked up, adrenaline coursing through him.

Mona stared down at him, and her eyes were full of tears. 

Anger and panic gave way to concern as he slipped from Todd's grasp, heading out of the bedroom into the corridor with her.

"Mona, what's wrong?"

"I didn't get anyone a present," she whispered. "I've been... I was just busy being other things and now it's nearly Christmas and I have no money and no presents and-" She broke down crying, wrapping her arms around Dirk. Dirk shushed her, rubbing her back and smiling a little as she sniffled against him.  
"We've got time, and I've got some spare money - you do a lot for the agency anyway, it's only fair-"  
"Thank you!" She leaned up and kissed his cheek, grabbing his hand and running towards the door. He cleared his throat.  
"Mona, I need to put on clothes which aren't pyjamas, and I know you love having a dress that you can swish in sweetheart, but maybe one a little longer so you don't look cold?"

Mona changed with a blink of her eyes, and Dirk tried not to feel jealous as he grabbed his own clothes. He wrote a note " _Sorry Todd, gone into shops with Mona. Back soon xxx_ " and left it on the pillow beside Todd before the two of them slipped away side by side. 

***

Farah dialled the number she had been given by Lydia first thing in the morning, knowing this would be the last day that letters and packages could be delivered to her island hideaway.

"Hello!" Lydia squealed in delight. "Farah, I love it! And I miss you. Thank you for the picture, you look so happy now, I'm so glad.."  
"Thank you." Farah smiled. "I'm glad it got there. Thank you for everything."  
"You did so much to me Farah. I'm just glad you can be yourself now. Speaking of, how is Tina?"  
"Tina is wonderful."  
"When can I meet her? And don't say she's a bad influence, Farah. If she's going to be spending time with you then I want her to be someone I like."

Farah smiled softly, and nodded.  
"Next time you're in the US, we'd like to meet you. She can be a bit... she's a lot, but she's..."   
"She makes you happy Farah. I approve of her, don't you worry."  
"Thank you," Farah murmured. 

"Oh! I sent your present, and one for Tina, to Hobbs. They'll be waiting for you there," Lydia informed her, sounding quite pleased with herself. Farah smiled and nodded.  
"That's good to know. Thank you."  
"It'll be weird having Christmas without you. Next year you should all come to mine."  
"Maybe," Farah agreed, staring at her phone almost sadly. As a child she'd always dreaded Christmas as a reminder of her failure, but time with Lydia had made it something she cherished. Even when Patrick had been distant, she had been able to make the day special for her, and she hoped the photo album she'd sent would do the same this year.

"Don't be sad," Lydia demanded. "I want you to come and visit in the new year, if you can?"  
"I'd-"  
"I'll pay for the flights." Lydia was smiling into the phone, Farah could hear it. "You and Miss Tevetino. A week's vacation in paradise - I spoke to the sheriff and to Dirk. They think it would be wonderful. Merry Christmas Farah."

Before Farah could reply, Lydia hung up. Farah couldn't help smiling at how Lydia had been determined to get in the last word.

***

Cross sat by the campfire, emptying all kinds of candies from his pockets. Vogel had already done that, and was searching through the other candy piles in the hope of something that he found particularly interesting, while Gripps was murmuring a range of formulas to himself with a smile on his face. Drummer and Martin were arguing over a map on Drummer's phone. 

Cross smiled, enjoying the chance to be surrounded by his family. Hestia was flopped in the remains of the bonfire, thin white smoke curling from their limbs.

"We got enough?" Martin asked.  
"Not really!" Vogel answered.   
"Okay, Cross, Gripps, can you go grab some beer and snacks?" Martin suggested. "They're off on a journey, we should make sure we don't send them off empty handed."

Cross nodded, grabbing a bag. They weren't too far from a gas station, and with the way the staff had looked at them when they'd rolled through earlier, he was sure they'd find what they needed. He grabbed a crowbar in case stuff needed to be smashed, but took some dollars as well. He grinned over at Gripps, grabbing him and wandering off.

***

Martin watched the way Drummer sat down with Hestia, showing them the map and discussing where to go. Cross and Gripps had got back half an hour ago, and Hestia had been presented with a huge pile of stuff that they had managed to shove into their backpack surprisingly skillfully.  
"You're sure you don't want to stay?" she asked, for what had to be the dozenth time.  
"I'm sure." Hestia smiled. "Your food and shelter are enough. And I'm sure we'll see each other again soon. I'm glad you're out, Martin."

"Thanks," Martin muttered. He had never been allowed close to other projects but had a vague recollection of seeing Hestia. "Good you're out too." No one deserved to be there. He was glad he had his boys, but saw why if you didn't have that, you might want to travel around rather than stay. "We'll see you soon."

"Yeah, you will," Hestia answered, and embraced Drummer before walking away.

Drummer flopped back against Martin.   
"Think that's my last vision dealt with. Maybe we're getting a break for a few days."  
"We'll see," Martin teased, but he hoped it was true. Drummer deserved a rest.


	23. Missing Present

Todd had got Dirk a few things for Christmas over the past few weeks - small things that had made him smile, and which he thought might make Dirk happy. He had never been one for grand gestures, and the past few years the only present he'd had to worry about was Amanda's. This year he'd had to buy gifts for Dirk, for Farah, for Amanda, for Tina, for Hobbs, for Mona, and some sweets for Amanda's numerous boyfriends and hangers on. Caring about people, having people in your life that you wanted to be happy, was hard work. Better than being alone, but still hard work.

He just felt he should have got something big for Dirk, something earth shattering. He knew that Dirk liked big gestures, but big gestures just... weren't something that came easily to him. 

He considered calling Hobbs, or even asking Amanda, but he got the feeling they would go too big. Something ridiculously over the top, like buying him a star. And yes, Dirk would be delighted, but it wouldn't be who Todd was.

He groaned, wondering if he could just ignore this particular concern. He'd caught Dirk under the Christmas tree earlier, poking at various parcels and discussing them with his sister (currently a stress doll). Dirk had spoken about past Christmases, explaining the kinds of gifts that he and Mona had exchanged before which had normally just been things they had found on the floor. He'd got Dirk actually nice things, he didn't need to worry.

Dirk wandered in, sitting on the couch beside him after handing him a coffee. He snuggled into Todd's side.   
"You're comfy."  
"I know," Todd muttered, watching the way Dirk was curled up against him, one hand absentmindedly stroking a blanket.

He thought about the shark-kitten, and how much care Dirk took of Mona when she was feeling like being an animal. He smiled to himself. He wasn't going to rush out at the last minute and try and find a pet - that would be bad, and also mean he'd have to go outside. He could just put a note in Dirk's card saying they should discuss it. Satisfied he had solved the problem, he allowed himself to relax.

***

Gripps smiled at his own bag of presents. He had six presents, one for each of the three guys, two for Drummer and Beast, and one for Martin from the Secret Santa. In the van, aside from his own presents, there were thirty presents. He liked thirty, because it could be divided by one, two, three, five, six, ten, and fifteen. Numbers that could be divided by three were his favourite. In total there were thirty six presents, and that could be divided by one, two, three, four, six, twelve, and eighteen. Thirty six was a square number. He yawned, closing the bag and curling up around it. 

Beast pounced on Gripps, hugging him.  
"Hullo is hug time now pleeesendthank."  
He hugged her tightly, and she trilled her delight.

Martin threw open the doors to the van with a grin, grabbing Drummer by her ankle and pulling her out. She yelped, and the others laughed, Vogel jumping after her.

"I got us something," Martin explained, holding up a bag and shaking it. The bag rattled, tins bouncing off of each other, and Vogel howled in delight, grabbing it.

"Huh, what?" Drummer murmured, blinking up at him.  
"Spray paint." He grinned. "If we're going to see the others and stuff, thought we could decorate. Plus... you and Rainbow haven't made your mark on the van yet, and that won't do. It's our home. Gotta make it ours."

Drummer nodded, reaching out for a can, which Martin handed to her. Cross had cornered Beast, and was trying to talk her through how to use a spray can without injuring herself or painting him. The results seemed mixed at best.

Gripps watched them and smiled. He'd liked it when there were three of them. When Vogel had joined things had been better, a missing piece slipping into place, a triangle where all the parts reach the centre. But now there was Drummer and Beast, and the shape between them was changing into something else, something that couldn't exist outside of the van, outside of their own little corner of the universe which worked according to their own rules.

But here, it fit.

He picked up a can, going to add a few more threes to the back door.


	24. Christmas Eve

"It's Christmas in one thousand and sixty three minutes," Gripps said brightly, and Martin groaned.  
"What?" Amanda muttered.  
"That means it's not even seven," Martin grouched, his arms tightening around her waist. Vogel squealed.  
"ONE MORE SLEEP UNTIL CHRISTMAS!"

"Hope you liked that peace and quiet while it lasted Drummer, because you aren't getting no more until tomorrow is over," Martin mumbled, his teeth nipping slightly at her ear.

Amanda was tempted to just cuddle back against him and relax, but it was clear that Vogel was excited, and they had a long way to travel to be in place for tomorrow.  
"C'mon Vogel, let's find some holly for the van." She squirmed from Martin's arms, grabbing Vogel and heading off to find some. The two of them walked in peace for a short while, until Amanda spotted a promising looking pile of berries. 

Vogel cheered and raced forwards, attempted to grab it, and yelped when hit by the realisation that holly was pointed and not good for grabbing. Amanda hugged him, pressing a kiss to his injured hand.   
"You need to be careful Vogel," she reminded him, knowing that he would forget about being careful in a day or two. If it even lasted that long. She cut off some holly, holding it carefully and carrying it back to the van, where she put it on the front grille.

"All ready?" Martin asked, already in the driving seat with Beast beside him.  
"Yeah. Just got these-" She dug into one of the packs, to find where she'd left the stockings. She whooped when she found them and held up the stockings, which were already full of various candies and other treats. "They need to go up tonight."  
"Okay. We can do that when we go to sleep." Martin nodded. "Thanks Drummer."

The van growled to life, and Amanda closed her eyes, settling back between Cross and Gripps, who seemed to be deep in a debate about something that had happened after their first escape from Blackwing. She let the noise wash over her, hearing the pings and beeps of Vogel's gameboy, and pulled out her phone, messaging Todd.

"See you soon loser."

***

"Right back at you." Todd sent the message, then glanced at the front of the car. "Are we nearly there?"  
"Almost," Farah answered, adjusting the radio. Todd glanced over at Dirk, seeing that he was almost bouncing with excitement, his eyes shining with hope and joy and all the Christmas things that Todd had never held particularly closely. He thought he might like Christmas a bit more this year with Dirk there. He continued to fiddle with his phone, trying not to worry if everyone would like their presents. He'd tried to pick suitable stuff, so he had to hope that they'd be pleased.

Caring about people sucked. There was just too much that might go wrong. 

The car stopped, and Farah had barely stepped from the driver's seat when Tina ran up and embraced her, wearing a brightly coloured elf costume. Todd rolled his eyes but climbed out, followed by Dirk and Mona. Hobbs walked over, hugging each of them.  
"Now, missy," he smiled at Mona fondly, "I think I've got rid of any decorations you won't like, but if anything upsets you you tell me, okay?"  
"Okay Mister Hobbs!" She nodded enthusiastically. "I like Tina's pretty dress." She spun in a circle, turning her outfit into a copy of Tina's. Tina squeaked in delight when she noticed, and the two of them cuddled.

Tina ran back into the station, returning a moment later with two red hats with white pompoms and trim, one of which said naughty and the other of which said nice. She gave Mona the nice hat, and smirked, winking at Farah as she put on the naughty hat. Todd shook his head, moving to stand closer to Todd.

"Glad you guys got here. We've still got a bit of cooking to do, and I'm going out this evening to hand out some food - I thought maybe Farah, Todd and Tina could help me, and Dirk and Mona can check everything's good here, maybe watch a Christmas film, and greet your friends when they get here?"

Todd hesitated. Handing out food on Christmas Eve wasn't exactly his idea of a good time, but he would be with his friends. And even if he didn't want to do that, he wanted to be the kind of person that would want to do it. With a sigh, he nodded.

***

Dirk opened the door as soon as he heard the Rowdy's van approaching. Martin gave him a disparaging look, but pushed him aside, heading in with the others. They looked around, Amanda embracing him and Beast trying to steal a kiss. Mona waved at them, and Gripps and Cross both seemed actually pleased to see her. Dirk fought back a pout at that - of course they liked Mona, Mona was wonderful. He didn't need them to like him.

"Hey, Dirk," Amanda paused, handing him a neatly wrapped present. "We got you a gift."  
"Thanks..." He added it to the tree.  
"So where are the others?"  
"Handing out some food to families that needed it," Dirk answered proudly. "We stayed to guard the fort because if any burglars attack Mona can turn into a wolf."

Amanda laughed, and offered Dirk a drink which he declined. They ended up sitting around in the waiting room, Amanda sharing a cigarette with Martin as Cross told Christmas stories and Mona acted them out. When Todd returned, Dirk was almost sad that they were interrupted.

Amanda, however, was absolutely delighted that her brother walked in wearing an elf costume, and took a quick photograph, which Dirk got a copy of later.

***

Amanda carefully hung up the stockings in the back of the van, before curling up against Gripps, feeling his arm fall across her waist. Martin settled on her other side, with beast laying against their feet, Vogel sprawled in the front seat, and Cross keeping watch. 

This was going to be the best Christmas ever, because she had all of them beside her.


	25. Christmas

Although in different locations a few yards apart, both Todd and Amanda were sleeping comfortably, their heads resting on the shoulder of their loved one(s), as the morning of the 25th of December dawned. 

That was until they were pounced on with excited yells of "IT'S CHRISTMAS".

***

Amanda groaned, rolling over and trying to shove Vogel away, but he kept jumping on her, poking her in the face and shaking the arms of the others.  
"Guys, guys! Guys it's Christmas! It's Christmas!"

"I know Vogel," Amanda muttered, trying to clamber out from under a very excited Rowdy. She paused, opening her eyes and looking at the stockings against the wall. Suddenly, she understood why her parents had always given them permission to open their stockings before they were awake. "Why don't you go look in your stocking?"

Vogel yelled and raced over to do just that.

***

Before that particular morning, Todd would never have imagined that it was possible to be woken by an overly enthusiastic Christmas sweater bouncing on you. However, apparently that was to be his fate. He sighed.  
"Hey Mona!"

She turned human again and grinned.  
"Dirk it's Christmas."  
"It is," Dirk agreed, leaning over to hug her. "I'm glad I get to spend it with you."  
"Thank you." She smiled at Todd. "Christmas is... it was good, before, to have a day with no testing, but it’s much better now to have a day with friends! And there's going to be food, and presents, and I got presents for people, and-"  
"We're going to have fun," Dirk agreed. "But it's still a little bit early for people to be awake, do you think you could be a Christmas jumper again? Then we can cuddle up and wait for Christmas together."

She instantly became a particularly vibrant jumper, with a Christmas tree, flashing lights, and sparkly bits. Todd groaned, resting his head on Dirk's shoulder.

***

Thrifting had gone better than Amanda could have hoped for, and she grinned as she saw the delight on Gripps' face at the slide rule she had found for him, and some log table books. The pages after pages of numbers were pretty much meaningless to her, but she could tell he was delighted, and she was grinning at the golf club that Vogel had got for her. With their own gifts all opened, they headed in to the station to catch up with the others.

Gripps and Cross went to start the fire pit, while Amanda went to see her brother, accepting his gift and then thanking Dirk for his. Dirk was curled up beneath a quilt, which he kept touching, running his fingers over it.  
"Hi Amanda! Isn't this quilt beautiful? Hobbs made it for me."  
"It looks great," she agreed. "Thanks for inviting us."  
"You're part of my family," Dirk said earnestly. "I wanted you here. And honestly, the Rowdies aren't so bad when they're not trying to eat me."  
"I'll let them know you said that," she answered. Things still felt weird with Todd, but they were getting better with him, and Dirk helped a lot.

***

"Food's ready!" Hobbs called from the doorway. In the porch he had set up a buffet of different snacks, while the Rowdies were handling cooking meat on the fire they had going. 

Dirk cleared his throat, running to Farah's car and returning with a plate full of small pastries.  
"I brought mince pies. They're vegetarian, don't worry."  
"How can they be-" Todd began, and Dirk shrugged.  
"Tradition. They've got fruit in." He put the plate down with the rest of the buffet, and everyone took what they wanted. 

Dirk was rather proud of the mince pies. He hadn't cooked them, but he had managed to find somewhere to source them so that he could bring them, which felt almost as good. 

Tina and Farah were cuddling, and seemed to have acquired matching bracelets, which he suspected was due to Lydia. The Rowdies all seemed delighted with their assorted gifts, and everyone was happy.

Dirk watched all of them, carefully tucking this memory away in his heart, in the hope it would sustain him if he found himself lost once again. Blackwing could capture him, but they wouldn't be able to take this away.

Todd's arm slipped around his waist, and Todd nuzzled into his hair.  
"Hey... you look serious...."  
"Just..." Dirk hesitated, trying to work out how to put it into words. "I don't… get things like this."  
"You've got it now." Todd told him. "Look..." He handed him a card. "I thought maybe after this has settled down, we could get a cat or a dog or something?"

Dirk swallowed, and nodded, feeling tears threaten. Having a pet together meant that Todd was serious about this, and it meant he'd have even more of a family than he already did.  
"That'd be good. Just... in the new year."  
"In the new year," Todd agreed, leaning in and kissing him softly.

Mulled wine had been found by Tina and was being shared, and Farah shepherded them all inside to watch Die Hard, followed by Muppet's Christmas Carol. 

Dirk didn't believe in perfection. But today, he was willing to put his beliefs aside, and curl up on the sofa with Hobbs and Farah and Tina nearby, Mona as his jumper, Todd holding his hand, and assorted Rowdies sprawled across the floor, and just enjoy what the universe had given him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has read this, and especially to Lourdes for all their help, and Juniper for their encouragement. Regardless of whether you celebrate or not, I hope this fic brought you some small joy, and I wish you all the best for the remainder of this year and the start of next.  
> Merry Christmas


	26. Bonus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hobbs has one more gift for the boys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Slytherinpirate for the name suggestion here. And thank you everyone for their support!

It turned out that the universe hadn't quite finished with Dirk that year, but for once it wanted to give him a kindness rather than forcing him onward to further tasks that were exhausting and dangerous.

Dirk woke up the following day with Todd cuddled up against him, in a cell in Bergsberg Sheriff's department - because apparently that had been the only bed available. That was alright - their previous visit had been the first time they'd slept in the same room after all, and where he'd spent his first night after his most recent escape from Blackwing, and so he couldn't help feeling a certain degree of fondness for that place.

Todd was still dozing, but after all their Christmas adventures Dirk was too excited to sleep. He could hear a vague noise from outside, which he assumed was the Rowdies’ van, and Hobbs snoring softly from the other bed. This was good, this was where he wanted to wake up, where he wanted to be. Todd nuzzled against him, his eyes closed, and Dirk just held him close, allowing his eyes to drift closed. There was nothing that needed to happen today, nothing he needed to worry about. He was with Todd, and he was safe and could rest until the universe started to demand more of them once more.

A little while later he heard movement from Hobbs, who headed off to feed his cat and make sure that he would be ready to staff the station. Todd stretched, stealing a kiss before he went to wash, and Dirk made his way through the station to make some coffee, finding that he already had a text from Farah. _We're bringing pancakes for everyone._  
 _Thanks!_ he messaged back, before making Todd a coffee so that it would be ready for him after his shower. Todd grinned to see it there, reaching to embrace Dirk tightly and muttering reassuring words to him, which Dirk was glad for.

Dirk nuzzled against him with a fond smile, and Todd returned the gesture, reaching out to squeeze his hand fondly. Everything felt peaceful for now, and with breakfast on its way there was nothing else he needed to worry about. He could just relax with Todd and see what the rest of the day brought.

The Rowdies barrelled in for coffee and to make use of the showers, and Todd pulled a face as they all entered together, which made Dirk laugh. Todd did pull some rather spectacular faces at points, and this was a good case of that. He made sure Todd was distracted, going to check through the supply closet in case there were any more clothes that he wanted. Todd watched him curiously.  
"Dirk, this is still very illegal."  
"Only a little bit," Dirk answered, with a bright grin. "And I won't take any that Hobbs doesn't give me permission for."  
"That's not exactly the-" Todd started, and then tilted his head slightly. "I think I heard the truck pulling up."

Dirk's grin continued as he raced over towards the front door, throwing it open and waving enthusiastically when he saw Hobbs. He ran over to him, arms out, only to freeze when Hobbs held up a hand, shaking his head and then holding a finger to his lips.  
Dirk fell silent, sneaking over towards him curiously. Hobbs was holding what at first glance appeared to be a sweater bundled up in his arms. 

"What's that?"  
"Someone left this little fellow outside my house," Hobbs answered. "There was a note saying that he needed a good home. But Mustard doesn't want to share, and he's only little..." Carefully, Hobbs moved a blanket to reveal a puppy with a white nose and brown ears. "I think he's a beagle."  
"That's a very small dog," Dirk agreed, holding out a hand. The puppy sniffed the air twice, and then yapped, leaning forwards and licking Dirk's hand. Dirk laughed softly, and Hobbs shifted the sweater to reveal a tail that was wagging frantically against his arm.

"Does that mean he's happy?"  
"He's very happy," Hobbs answered. "I thought that I was going to have to find a shelter, but if you boys would be able to look after him..." Dirk barely heard the question, busy fussing over the dog.

Todd sighed, and cleared his throat.  
"What've you got there?"  
"It's a puppy!" Dirk answered, lifting the dog into his arms and gently patting the creature behind the ears, making shushing noises.  
"You said about... I know we said in the new year, but look at him..."  
"He's..." Todd examined the puppy, reaching out to gently scritch it behind the ears, and trying not to smile. "I guess we can keep him."

"Really?" Dirk asked, startled. He hadn't expected Todd's agreement. "A... a dog is a big commitment, isn't it?"  
"That's okay," Todd answered, still scratching the dog's ears fondly. "You are already a pretty big commitment." 

There was a gasp, and Mona appeared at his side. Todd whined as the rest of his coffee splattered down onto the floor.  
"Mona-" he muttered, but Mona was busy patting the dog and then going to talk to Hobbs, singing to herself.   
"We've got a puppy! We've got a puppy."  
Dirk smiled at Todd.  
"Much more exciting than being a cup I'm afraid," Dirk explained, trying to excuse the shapeshifter's delight. "Didn't realise she was that one."  
"We need to make sure she's labelled," Todd mumbled. "And that the dog doesn't eat her."

"I do hope that wouldn't happen," Dirk mumbled, but then he glanced down at the puppy in his arms and smiled.  
"He's going to need a name.," Todd said firmly. "And do we know about looking after dogs?"

"I think Farah will!" Dirk answered. He was pretty sure Farah had mentioned having a dog when she was younger, so she could probably advise, and he would be able to research it. They could get some dog food as soon as they'd had breakfast.

"What about Lucky?" Dirk suggested. "I mean, I'm lucky to have you. And this little one is lucky to have us."

Todd considered for a moment and then nodded, reaching out to pat Lucky on the head.

"I think Lucky's a good name for him."

Dirk put the puppy down, and it moved to his feet, its tail wagging enthusiastically from side to side. He rubbed the top of its head, murmuring to it, and Hobbs watched on proudly.  
"You're sure we can-"  
"I think he's where he belongs," Hobbs answered. "Now, I don't have a dog bed, but there's one of Mustard's old beds that you can use until you get this little one home at least."

"That's very kind," Dirk murmured and then Hobbs frowned, tilting his head slightly.

"I can hear the girls." He went over to the front door, greeting both of them with hugs. "You ladies best be fairly quiet for now."

"Why?" Tina asked, and then squeaked when she saw Lucky. Farah clapped her hands in excitement and walked over for a closer look.  
"I guess he won't be any more bother to have in the office than you two."

Todd tried to complain, but Dirk considered and decided that was probably an accurate statement rather than defamation, and so he had no reason to moan. Especially not when Dirk was looking quite so smitten with the small bundle of fluff by his feet.


End file.
